You Are Not Alone
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: AU: What if, instead of the End of the Universe, the TARDIS took the Doctor somewhere else ? And they meet a different Time lord... ?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer - I don't own Doctor Who, unfortunately. If I did then Romana, the Rani, Susan and the Meddling Monk would return. **

**SUMMARY - Instead of the Master, what would you say if instead of the end of the universe, the TARDIS brought the Doctor, Martha and Jack to the year 802,701 and found a different version of Yana ?**

**You Are Not Alone. **

The TARDIS landed with a thud.

The Doctor looked around the console room with interest, landing in Cardiff and using the spacetime rift to refuel had been relatively fast especially since the rift had been unusually active. He only hoped nothing serious had happened.

Then Jack had appeared, running directly towards the TARDIS. It should've been expected, the Doctor thought. As a time agent Jack would have access to a Vortex manipulator, a rather nasty and primitive form of time travel.

The Doctor hadn't seen Jack Harkness in over 45 years since the Dalek emperor in the year 200.100, but he'd known what Rose had done when she took the time vortex inside herself.

Bit stupid of her really, he thought.

Rose had suggested returning to the game station to pick him back up when his last regeneration started to go wrong, not that he wasn't surprised. Vortex energy was more than simple radiation, like the kind his 3rd incarnation had suffered from and it did scramble up the brain a lot more.

The Doctor had refused, his regeneration had been bad enough, but to add in a fixed point in time….

It was unthinkable.

The Doctor hadn't been expecting Jack at Cardiff, but it did make a weird sort of sense. The TARDIS was dependent on energy scavenged from temporal rifts now the Eye of harmony was gone, destroyed by the Time war and himself.

The question was how long had Jack been at Cardiff waiting for him ?

As soon as Jack threw himself at the TARDIS, the timeship had thrown itself into a frenzy, shooting right into the far future with a speed that went right over the danger limitations. It reminded him vividly of the time in his 6th incarnation when he sent the Master and the Rani spinning beyond the galaxies in her TARDIS.

Fortunately, the Doctor was able to restore partial control using his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the hyper drive, turning it off by shutting down the power supply.

Now, the TARDIS was on a planet in the year 802,701.

Ironic, the Doctor thought to himself, the TARDIS materialises in the same year as ol' Herbert George's time machine.

" Well, we've landed,"

Martha looked at him, eyes wide with wonder which was reflected in her voice, " So, what's out there ?"

The Doctor looked at the doors with a slight frown. " I dunno."

It was true. The TARDIS hadn't exactly been forthright with him and now he didn't know where they were.

Martha's voice took on a slightly teasing tone, " Say that again, that's rare."

The Doctor looked at her, deadly serious, " I mean it. The TARDIS didn't give me a chance to set the controls, now I dunno where and when we are. We could be anywhere in the universe and at any time."

Then he grinned at her childishly, trying to hide his slight apprehension. " Rather exciting, isn't it ?"

Jack Harkness woke up, and thought he'd just died and gone to heaven. In his vision was a beautiful dark skinned girl, outside his vision was a beautiful man with thick, messy dark brown hair, gazing down at him with a slight disdain.

" Captain Jack Harkness," he introduced himself to the girl, then he stroked her chin gently, " And who are you ?"

The girl giggled, a sexy sound, " Martha Jones."

" Nice to meet you Martha Jones."

The flirting stopped when the man said impatiently, " Oh, don't start."

Jack's tone was defensive, " I was only saying hello."

Martha looked at the man, " I don't mind."

Yep, definitely the Doctor.


	2. Chapter 2

Dedicated to Jennyrated Anomaly. Hope you like it. Enjoy.

An old Friend.

" **So there I was, stranded in the year 200100, ankle deep in Dalek dust, and he goes off without me, but I had this."**

**Even without him watching, the Doctor knew that Jack was showing Martha his vortex manipulator. He was more interested in the surrounding countryside. **

**It was a beautiful place, purple skies with clouds, dark blue grass, beautiful trees with dark red leaves. But he was still interested in why the TARDIS would bring him here. His temporal senses were all over the place, like this planet should be here but shouldn't.**

**He tuned back into the conversation.**

" **I used to be a Time agent," The Doctor wondered whether or not Jack should add he was a conman. **

" **It's called a vortex manipulator."**

**Pointing at the tall Time lord walking slightly ahead of them, Jack said slightly scornfully, " He's not the only one who can time travel."**

**Now the Doctor had a good reason to argue, no one insulted his TARDIS and got away with it, " Oh, excuse me, that is not time travel."**

**Sounding as dignified as he could, although it made him sound slightly smug, the Doctor carried on, " It's like, I've got a sports car, you've got a space hopper."**

**Martha sounded amused, clearly not getting the difference between a TARDIS and a vortex manipulator, " Oh, boys ad their toys!"**

**Jack sounded more annoyed, not bothering to reply to Martha's remark, " All right, so I bounced."**

**Now he spoke to Martha, " I thought, " 21st**** century, the best place to find the Doctor." except I got it a little wrong, arrived in 1869, this thing burnt out, so it was useless."**

**Now the Doctor sounded deliberately smug, " Told you."**

**His TARDIS may not have been the latest model on the market, but at least it didn't burn itself out on the first run they'd had.**

" **I had to live through the entire 20****th**** century waiting for a version of you that would coincide with me." At last, the aggrieved former Time agent was showing his real thoughts.**

**Whilst the Doctor wrestled with the implications he'd been stalking his past lives, Martha had just worked something out. **

" **But that makes you more than 100 years old." She pointed out. **

" **And looking good, don't you think ?" The smile and the chuckle from Jack was forced. He'd never asked to be immortal and the Doctor sympathised. He hadn't wanted to live when Gallifrey had been destroyed. **

**Jack carried on, " So, I went to the time rift, based myself there, 'cause I knew you'd come back to refuel, until finally, I get a signal on this detecting you and here we are."**

**He ended that on a flourish. **

**But Martha was curious and asked a question the Doctor hated above all else because it made him nervous and awkward.**

" **But the thing is, how come you left him behind, Doctor ?"**

" **I was busy." The Doctor knew that was a lame excuse and neither Martha nor Jack for that matter wouldn't accept it. Maybe he should tell Jack the truth….**

**Martha carried on, ignorant of the Time lord's feelings, " Is that what happens, though, seriously ?"**

" **Do you just get bored of us one day and disappear ?"**

**Jack spoke up this time, " Not if you're blonde."**

**There was definite hurt there. **

**Martha spoke as if the comment answered everything, " Oh, she was blonde ! What a surprise!"**

**The Doctor swung round, " Alright, ok, you wanna know ? Right, Jack, Rose made you immortal. She looked into the heart of the TARDIS, came back and destroyed the Daleks. No one's meant to have that kind of power. If I'd looked in, well I have actually but that's another story, anyway, if I'd looked into the vortex, I'd become a god, a vengeful god. She brought you back to life, but she couldn't control it. She brought you back forever, that's something I guess, the final act of the Time War was life."**

" **I took the power out of her, then I regenerated. I left you behind because of the fact you are wrong. I can't help that, I'm a Time lord, it's instinct, its in my guts. You're a fixed point in time and space, a fact, not meant to happen. Why do you think I've been avoiding and running away from you ? Even the TARDIS reacted, tried to shake you off. I had to shut down the power to stop."**

**Jack's voice was wry, but now he'd gotten some answers he was satisfied, it did answer one or two questions and made some sense.**

" **So, your prejudiced."**

**The Doctor blinked, " Hadn't thought of it like that."**

" **Shame on you."**

" **Yeah,"**

**Jack just had to ask, " Can she take it back ?"**

**The Doctor shook his head, " No, sorry Jack, I took it out of her. I can't bring her back, the walls to the parallel realities have sealed shut. Even I can't break through."**

**As they carried on walking, Jack had the impression the Doctor didn't want Rose back…**

**The trio walked across a valley when they saw it. It was a huge number of spaceships, they were arranged like scrapped cars in a scrap yard. **

**The Doctor and Jack recognised a number of ships, the strange part was some of the ships resembled spacecraft that had been used aeons ago and were long since scrapped, but these…these looked brand new, like they'd just come off on an assembly line.**

**Jack pointed to one of the ships, " Is that an Arcateen glider ?" he pointed towards a sleek arrow headed ship with a smooth curve. **

**The Doctor looked at it, astonishment wrestling with delight, " Yeah, it is, I don't understand. They were scrapped and taken apart, the Arcateen's later regretted that action, but they couldn't rebuild them. Only 13 were built."**

**Martha looked at the ships, lack of understanding seeping into her voice as well as her face, " What are you two on about ?"**

**Jack explained, " Half these ships are ancient, some have been lost, but the majority look….brand new."**

**The Doctor looked up at the skies above his head, " There's something familiar about this planet, all my senses are all over the place."**

" **What d' you mean ?" **

" **Just that Martha, this planet feels out of sync with time."**

" **Maybe she can help." Jack said pointing down into the valley, where they could see a woman amongst the ships, taking bits and pieces out.**

**The Doctor stared hard at the woman, and suddenly sections of his mind and brain started tingling as he sensed another Time lord in his presence. **

" **No way," he whispered, recognising the other instantly. The voice told him who it was. A smile started appearing on his face.**

" **Doctor, do you know her ?" Martha asked. **

" **Yes, I do." The Doctor stared at the woman in the distance. **

" **Romana."**

**Romanadvoratrelunder, Romana for short, sighed wearily as she scavenged the components from a downed Sontaran scout ship. The occupants of the ships were killed by the temporal energy the planet sat on, it was like a time minefield. **

**Slipping her sonic screwdriver from her pocket, she started taking apart the flight computer for anything that the Time lady felt she could use. **

**As she worked, she became aware of a….presence. **

**Her brain tingled as she heard a voice in her mind, a familiar voice, one she knew and had become well tuned too over the centuries. **

**An old friend. **

**The Doctor. **

**But how ? She'd thought he'd died during the Time war. **

**Romana turned around slowly and saw 3 people coming towards her, one was wearing a tan brown trench coat, brown pinstriped jacket and matching trousers, converse trainers, dark blue shirt with a half tied tie. **

**His face, he looked like he was in his early 40s in human terms, but Romana knew he was much older than that, his eyes were bright and sad at the same time. His hair, she almost laughed, was standing on edge. **

**Nothing changes. **

" **Romana ?" He asked, his voice quiet, almost unsure. **

" **Doctor ?"**

**When they both nodded in sync, they rushed towards each other and held each other. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Reunion. **

The Doctor was the one that broke off the hug, trying to ignore the pained moan from Romana as he did. He held her at arms length, getting a good look at the Time lady that'd captured his hearts and soul.

Romana's third incarnation had been tall, with close cropped black hair, severe facial expressions that seemed to be born to the body rather than the personality. This Romana reminded him vividly of her second life, she was a young woman in what resembled her early 30s. Her hair was long, with soft dark blonde hair. Her eyes were a dazzling green.

That's when he took in her clothes. The previous Romana had been tall, whilst the new one was tall she was much shorter, so the robes hung off her.

The robes…

The Doctor knew that Romana had been deposed, which was tragic since the Time lords under her leadership had managed to hold back the Dalek advance. Then Rassilon had been resurrected and the war grew worse. Whilst the clothes were still fine and regal, they weren't in the same league as the ones she'd worn as the president of the Time lords.

Romana broke through his thoughts, " Doctor, how did you survive the Time war ? How long has it been ?"

There was a desperate edge to her voice and the Doctor picked up on it at once, " How long have you been here ?"

Romana was impatient, " only 6 months." she held out her wrist and Martha and Jack saw a bracelet on her wrist, once it had been a burnished gold, now it was dull and looked like it was crumbling.

" My time ring, I couldn't get to a TARDIS when you stole the Moment. This ring was set to a random destination in the future. Then, I arrived. My body was saturated with the energy of our world, then I regenerated into this form. I've been recovering and trying to build a space time machine at the same time."

Martha gasped. She'd examined the clues and now she knew, " You're a Time lord ?"

" Time lady, in my case. And you are ? No, don't tell me, Earth clothes, 21st century, Human, right ? Another companion." Romana turned to Jack, where she grimaced.

" An immortal, how in Omega's name did that happen ? Please, don't come near me, just tell me who you are ?"

Jack smiled roguishly, hoping it would smooth Romana. It didn't, just as the Doctor had known it wouldn't.

" Captain Jack Harkness, and who are you ?"

" Romana." It was stated in a way that told even a deaf man Romana just wasn't interested.

The Doctor smiled.

" So, you stopped Rassilon from going through with the ultimate sanction ?" Romana asked quietly.

The Doctor winced. Memories of the atrocity Rassilon, one of the first Time lords was enough to make him sad, sad for his people and what they'd become. It wasn't a lovely thought, knowing his race had lost that last spark of decency in a desire for survival. The Doctor understood survival, seen it many times and it perverted the values of many races.

The Cybermen had taken their organic parts apart and put in place machine parts and removed their feelings, not because it was logical, but because they couldn't stand what they'd done to themselves.

The Daleks, less said the better, but more or less the same as the Cybermen, excluding the fact that they'd removed all their emotions and their consciences for the sake of racial cleansing.

The most tragic, in the Doctor's views, were the previous owners of Earth. The Silurians and the Sea Devils had forgotten the millennia's long gaps that represented humanity's evolution, preferring to see a still primitive savage race and determined to wipe our humanity, not realising that they were making one mistake after another.

The quartet were in the wrecked spaceship Romana had made into a temporary home. It wasn't much, it had been the quarters of one of the crew. Now it was divided into sections. One section was where Romana was able to store food and water, one was where the Time lady slept and bathed. The rest was a workshop, laboratory and computer room all at once.

The space was dominated by a circular ring made from all sorts of junk, it was connected to the Zison reactors which were still powering the ship.

The Doctor had said to his companions, who were presently exploring, it was a time portal.

" I wired the Moment into the Eye of Harmony and opened it the whole way. Gallifrey blew up, taking with it the whole of the Dalek race, more or less, in a huge wave of antimatter and artron energy. It also destroyed the Time lords, except me."

He looked down at his hands, still seeing the blood of millions, " I don't know how I survived, but I know one thing. It wasn't by choice."

Romana surprised him by coming round the table and wrapping him in a hug.

Meanwhile, Jack and Martha were busy exploring.

Jack noticed the girl's melancholy mood. He didn't know Martha and that was the problem. For all of Jack's weak points, he was a very sensitive man and knew when someone was uneasy.

" What's up ?"

Martha snapped out of her thoughts, " I dunno, I was thinking of Romana. The way the Doctor looked at her…" she trailed off, not wanting to reveal her thoughts to a stranger, no matter how gorgeous he was.

Jack noticed the uneasiness, " Look, I can see you have feelings for the Doctor, just like I do."

" I just wish he'd notice me, sometimes I get the feeling he's looking through me."

Jack cursed, Rose must've had a profound effect on the Time lord for this to happen. But from what he'd seen, this Doctor didn't seem to care she was gone. That made him angry.

" Maybe, just maybe, he doesn't want his hearts broken again."

Martha looked thoughtful at that.

The Doctor and Romana were still hugging and had been for 5 minutes before the Time lady, the responsible one of the pair, let go.

" So, tell me, how long has it been for you ?"

The Doctor knew what she was talking about, " 54 years."

Romana closed her eyes and let loose a few well chosen High Gallifreyan curses that made even the Doctor quirk his eyebrows.

When she stopped she explained, " This damn planet, time is warped, shattered and heaven alone knows what else. I've been here for months, alone. It feels like only yesterday since the final battle."

The Doctor nodded, " Yeah, I know. I get that. Sometimes, I dream, dream about the old days when it was me, and you, travelling through the stars, running through Paris, across landscapes. Then - I wake up, realising that it was a dream and the reality's more a nightmare than I thought."

Romana closed her eyes, feeling the other Time lord's pain. The Doctor had never wanted the war to occur, never wanted Rassilon brought back, never wanted to make that choice. But making choices was what defined the older Time lord.

She looked at him, " When are we leaving ?"

The Doctor had been hoping for that question, " When d'you wanna go ?"

" Now."

An hour later, the Doctor, Martha, Jack and Romana were now inside the TARDIS, the old time machine had been warm to Romana, even the console had lit up more than usual, but with Jack…

Jack had been afraid that the ship would vaporise him, but she'd let him inside when she'd gotten used to him. It only took 10 minutes for him and the ship to get used to one another again.

Romana was looking around the console room with an odd expression, it was like worry laced with joy, joy laced with something close to disgust.

" You've redecorated."

It wasn't a question, but the Doctor took it like one, " Not quite, after the war the TARDIS was almost ripped apart by the shockwave, both in space and in the vortex. Add in the fact that with our people gone the vortex is now a more hazardous place to travel through. It took me 2 years to refit the TARDIS, I had to use a sprapyard for that. It was more of splicing bits and pieces together, really. Then I travelled to the 55th century, where they had those prototype vortex capsules and I borrowed one and cannibalised it, taking the dimensional controls and the navigational computers."

He gestured about the room, " I made do with what I had, the desktop theme did the rest."

Martha looked at him, " Desktop theme ?"

" Welll, closest in your vocabulary that the real term means. But, yeah, basically it's like this really complicated…shape changing thing with the TARDIS. I can customise the interior anyway I like."

Romana rolled her eyes, it was such a basic explanation but it was better than hers because of the simplicity.

A/N Please review.


	4. Chapter 4

**Night talk.**

The TARDIS was travelling through the time vortex, thankfully now under the Doctor's control. Romana had been scathing at the way the TARDIS now travelled, and had hit what she called the blue stabilisers.

The Doctor had sulked when she told him they were meant to be on at all times. He later developed another reason to sulk, when Romana slapped his hand and told him to never touch the buttons again, or else.

Not wanting to get on the wrong side of Romana's temper, the Doctor relented. Martha and Jack had almost laughed themselves to death at the expression on his face, until Romana turned on them.

Romana hadn't been happy that her old room was gone, but when told she accepted it, understanding perfectly, but the Doctor could see her irritation.

The Doctor was in the kitchen, nursing a massive mug of hot tea with biscuits on the side, going over the recent events in his mind.

Romana was alive, she was actually alive, she was here, she hadn't died with the others. Better than that, she was back in the TARDIS, with him, where she truly belonged.

The possessiveness his mind thought with in terms of Romana astounded the Doctor. Romana was everything that the most Time ladies aspired to be, she was incredibly gifted, highly trained, unflappable, dedicated, professional, the most beautiful specimen of Time lord evolution, she was…wait what ?

The most beautiful specimen of Time lord evolution…..

That's what he thought, wasn't it ?

It was.

The Doctor placed his face in his hands and sighed, he'd always harboured a crush on Romana, the Time lady who'd stolen his hearts.

She was perfect, the way she could control him was unlike anything, even when he'd been married all those centuries before. That one could barely order him to move a millimetre, Romana, on the other hand, one word from her and he'd find himself setting the controls for a planet.

That was the extent of the power she held over him.

The Doctor was still going over his thoughts when Romana walked in, wearing a nightdress and a dressing gown thrown over. The dressing gown didn't hide the shape of Romana's body, the Doctor noted, starting to get dirty thoughts…

Romana's voice broke through his thoughts, " Mind if I join you ?"

The Doctor shook his head, no.

Romana made herself some tea and could feel her fellow Time lord's eyes on her. As she sat down, she noted that he didn't blink, lest she vanished.

" I noticed that, you've regenerated twice since….what happened ?" Romana asked curiously, holding back a wince. She knew regeneration was a poor choice to start a conversation but she was desperate for a conversation of some kind that she automatically latched on to the first thing that came to mind.

The Doctor wasn't surprised by Romana's observation, Time lords had a sort of temporal sense that literally rewound the appearance of another incarnation. She'd known he was in his 10th life from the moment they'd laid eyes on them.

He sighed, " The emperor survived," he didn't clarify because Romana, being the former president would know instantly who he was talking about. Indeed, she did as her eyes widened with horror and rage that such a monster had lived, " He fell through time, crippled, but unfortunately alive. He was stranded in the year 200,100, using Humans to create a new Dalek army."

He took a swig of his tea and paused, gathering his thoughts. After a moment the Time lord carried on.

" My companion at the time, Rose Tyler, was sent home. She came back, ripping the console open and looked into the time vortex itself."

Romana looked aghast at that. " What ?" She hissed.

"Rose did more than that, she exposed the Daleks to it, used the vortex to bring Jack back, " I bring life," she said. Dunno whether or not she cared about the consequences, Jack never asked to be immortal, never asked to keep dying and constantly coming back. Bet she didn't, anyway, I took the power out of her. As you know, the vortex would leave a bit of itself behind and would need a regeneration to burn it all up."

The Doctor stared unblinkingly at Romana, the dim light shadowing his eyes. " My ninth incarnation, gone, because of a Human girl who messed with things she didn't understand. Most Time lords might let her die as a sick form of punishment, but I couldn't."

Romana looked at him sympathetically, " That regeneration must've been nasty."

" It was, normally I can recover in say, a few hours," the Doctor agreed, " I was knocked out for longer. A day, actually. On top of that the Sycorax invaded, on Christmas."

Romana regarded him thoughtfully before asking her next question.

" Tell me about Rose Tyler, considering the way you're referring to her you aren't fond of her."

The Doctor sighed and rubbed his eyes, " She was the first person I met after the war, I'd just regenerated. My brain was still numb with the silence of our people. She just would not get lost and leave well enough alone."

The Doctor took another swig, " At first I thought she was good, but after our first trip," he shook his head, " Rose asked me about where I was from, it didn't occur to her that it was a painful subject."

Romana winced. She knew from experience that when the Doctor's hearts were closed off and someone poking around would find a different side of the Time lord. Normally, the Doctor was as gentle as a kitten, get him angry and you had a force that could shatter space time and burn worlds.

" I told her the basics, how I thought I was the last, I didn't tell her about Rassilon and what he was about to do. Rose wouldn't understand, she wasn't capable of learning temporal mechanics, even when she saw the effects with her own eyes."

Romana frowned, " What do you mean ?"

The Doctor winced this time, he knew she wouldn't like this. Romana took the laws of time very seriously, but then again so did he.

Back home, at the academy, people ostracised him for not being a proper Time lord, but when he left he found those same time lords trying to change the timelines.

" I took her back to the point where her father died." The Doctor said slowly, trying to stop his friend from going berserk.

" I did it twice, the second time she pushed him out of the way, in full view of our past selves."

The Doctor waited.

" What ?" Romana said slowly, quietly.

" She was moping about it for a while, if I didn't take her then I'd have all sorts of things moaned at me. If I'd have know what was about to happen I wouldn't have taken her. Besides, I was curious, about Rose's childhood. I wanted to catch a glimpse of a living being, not some photograph."

The Doctor sighed, " You can guess what happened, can't you ?"

" Yes I can. Reapers."

" After it was over, after her dad sacrificed himself, I made sure or tried to that Rose wouldn't play stupid games like that again. Luckily, she didn't play games with time. She was so obsessed with me at the time that she more or less did anything I told her to do."

The Doctor took a swig from his now cold tea and went to get some more.

He talked as he did, " I thought she'd finished with her moronic stunts, but the saving of her dead parent is different from ripping my TARDIS apart. She brought in a genius, or who thought he was a genius, he tried changing history as well. You'd have thought she would notice what I did to him, leaving him home with a chip in his brain. On top of that, she's made Jack into something he doesn't wanna be. I've met hundreds of people who've wanted immortality; Borusa, the Master, Queen Xanxia of Zanak - you remember her ? Monarch, even though he had some mad notion that he'd become god, but anyway, immortality isn't what its cracked up to be."

The Doctor looked seriously at Romana, " I'll get back to you about that in a bit. Right now I need to tell you what state the universe is in now the war is over and the Time lords are gone."

He folded his hands together and rested his chin on them, looking over at Romana with an emotion or feeling the Time lady couldn't identify. If she hazard a guess, she'd say that he was hiding what he was thinking.

" The destruction of Gallifrey, the Eye of Harmony included, plus the maintenance of the vortex, has suffered. The shockwave swept through the vortex, making travel to Gallifrey virtually impossible. Oh, you can still see the sight of rocks and dust where our planet used to be, but we can't travel in time. The vortex is literally shattered around the solar system the nearby parsecs, and I do mean shattered. Its like thin ice which is cracked in numerous places, one misstep and you fall into cold water."

" Travel in the vortex is now hazardous like I told you earlier," Romana nodded, understanding where he was going with this.

" There are times the TARDIS can use its normal vortex drive, but I've had to modify it and the interstitial antennae to find out where and when the vortex is damaged. It's more volatile that ever, its like the first Time scaphe travels. The vortex almost tore the ship to shreds before the technique to control and calm the vortex was invented."

Romana assimilated the information, seeing the sense. The Vortex was like a sea, but on the sea the waves during a storm would batter a ship and probably sink it.

It was under that sea that everything was calm, when the Time lords were around they controlled the vortex, limiting its damage whilst letting it continue naturally.

The Time lords had known that the vortex was a maelstrom and no matter what they did they couldn't play around with it and stop it naturally.

The Doctor watched and waited to carry on, " The eye of harmony is gone, and with it the web of time itself. Now I don't think I need to remind you that the web helped us to maintain the normal flow of time, giving us the power to control time with the help of the eye."

Romana was listening with mounting horror, the web of time was a meta structure created by Rassilon and the other, anchored in place by the eye of harmony and literally giving the Time lords the power necessary to control creation. If that was gone…..

The Doctor had watched the horror form on his friends' face and confirmed them, " Yeah, time is no longer fixed and is more in flux, events that should take place at one time takes place about 3 or even a hundred years later or in the past, added to that, oh you're gonna love this," he added sarcastically, " There are more time travellers in the universe now than there ever were when our people were around. Some of 'em are like the Time agents, careless, stupid, uncaring and immoral about what they do. Ever since the war ended, I've been cleaning up the various messes and putting their time machines out of commission, stranding them in the times they tried to change."

The Doctor paused for a moment and stared at Romana silently for a moment.

Romana was rerunning her conversation with the Doctor through her mind and came up with something.

" What did you mean about immortality ?"

The Doctor winced.

Romana could see this was not going to be good.

" When I stole the Moment from the Tower of Rassilon, I had to wait 4 hours for a force field to drop and let me gain access to it. It was in a room with a library full of scrolls of knowledge Rassilon had left behind, stupid place to leave them, but anyway," the Doctor got back on course on the conversation.

" Whilst I was waiting, I needed something constructive to do, so I read a few and kept a few. All of them in fact. I found his earlier research, if the war wasn't going on it would've been the archaeological find of an aeon. I found something disturbing."

Romana asked impatiently, " What ?"

" You and I, being the last of the Time lords, are virtually immortal, and I don't mean just the 12 regenerations Time lords are limited to." The Doctor decided to get to the point and get at the crux of the matter quickly.

Romana sat there, eyes wide and mouth open.

The Doctor gave her a grim smile, " You might wanna close your mouth, there may be flies."

Romana shut her mouth, " How…how can we be immortal ?"

" Do you remember your time at the academy, when you had your bio data altered ?"

At her nod the Doctor continued, " They were giving you the foothold necessary to become a Time lady, the Rassilon imprimature. The symbiotic nuclei that enables us, not only the knowledge and ability to travel in time and control and understand a TARDIS, but also regenerate."

" The scroll I mentioned contained information that Rassilon had managed to make the nuclei allow the Time lord regeneration, allowing for a longer lifespan. But there was a problem, from Rassilon's point of view."

" What was that ?" Romana asked curiously, she had no love for Rassilon, especially after what he was planning to do.

" Politics," the Doctor said simply. " Rassilon was afraid that multiple regenerations would give his political enemies leg room and give them a chance, hundreds of chances, to overthrow him."

Romana looked disgusted, " Everything's politics with him, isn't it ?"

" Yeah, the eye of harmony was set up to act as a block. Rassilon chose 12 -12 regenerations, 13 lives. As soon as the bio data was altered, the eye would add the block automatically."

Romana's curiosity was fully peaked at this point, " So, the eye acted as a form of barrier ?"

" Yes," The Doctor's answer was simple.

" Then, Traken, Borusa, the game of Rassilon…it was all for nothing." Romana whispered, thinking of the lives lost because of Rassilon and his greed.

The Doctor was just as distraught as she was. Maybe more so, Romana had only heard of those events, he'd actually witnessed them. He'd watched as the Master, decayed and burnt out, try to destroy Gallifrey, later on stealing the body of an intelligent man that was the father of one of his companions. The Doctor still regretted not being able to help Nyssa's father, Tremas had deserved better. The Master had later stolen and killed a paramedic, then tried to steal the Doctor's remaining regenerations.

Borusa, probably the greatest of all Time lord presidents, had gone mad with power and wanted to rule Gallifrey forever, so he'd time knapped all of the Doctor's previous lives and even some of his enemies. The aftermath had shown Borusa being turned into a statue, forced to live aware, but unable to move or speak.

Romana finally had to ask, " Are you sure ?"

" Yes," the Doctor said as patiently as possible, " I took some of my cells and regenerated them. My cell structure is in it's tenth configuration, so I regenerated it at least 4 times. Romana, they were stable. I did it again, another 4 times, again, perfect stability. Another 4 times, then another 4 after that."

The Doctor's voice was grim, " We're virtually immortal and the best and only way I can think of inducing death is to remove the Imprimature from our bodies, the scrolls detail how and I tested it. One day, in the future, when the pair of us feel like it…"

Romana nodded, resigned to her fate.

Immortality wasn't a subject Time lords liked because whilst they tolerated long lived species they still believed that everything had its time and everything ended.

One day, even the Time lords would have to accept that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Reverse. **

" Now you've heard from me, I wanna hear from you. What happened, how did you end up on that planet ?" The Doctor asked looking at her.

Romana swallowed another gulp of her tea and folded her hands in the same way the Doctor had done earlier.

" After I called you about the Moment and Rassilon's plan, he found out and had me imprisoned. He was an animal Doctor, he was a raging beast. There was no sign of the calm and the rationality of a Time lord in him, he beat me almost to death. He subjected me to zed neutrino radiation and a portion of the time winds. It wasn't enough exposure to force me to regenerate but it was agony."

Romana paused watching him, the Doctor's face was furious and was getting angrier by the moment.

She wondered how angry he'd be by the end of it.

Romana carried on, " Leela rescued me, she managed to get me as far to the dry docks where the TARDISes were, but it wasn't enough. Rassilon was coming, personally, to finish me off. He was going to execute me in front of the council as an example. Leela held off the soldiers so I could get my hands on a Time ring. There wasn't time to find a TARDIS, besides most of them were off fighting."

" I managed to set the ring, just as a guard shot a staser bolt at me," Romana stopped, hearing the Doctor wince.

" That was the final straw, plus the fact Gallifrey blew up and the wash of artron energy and the injuries made regeneration more likely. I landed on the planet, regenerated and spent a good few hours recuperating."

Romana took a sip of her drink, " I found the wreckage of a number of ships and tried to build a portal to take me to Earth."

The Doctor frowned, " Why Earth ?"

Romana looked down, slightly embarrassed, " It was the only planet I ever truly enjoyed visiting, plus the fact that if you'd survived the war then that would be a frequent place for you to visit."

The Doctor nodded.

Romana carried on with her story, " I was the only person on that planet, the time ring had burnt out so it was just an ornamental bracelet. No matter what I did, no matter how I did it, I couldn't create a stable space - time field to take me to earth. Then you arrived."

The Doctor nodded again, then decided to add his own two pence, " Do you blame me ?"

" For the destruction of Gallifrey ?" The Doctor nodded again, and Romana sighed, " Not really, I think I'd have done the same thing if I was in your position. Rassilon was selfish, a political manipulator who didn't care about upholding Time lord principles."

The Doctor didn't look convinced so Romana took his hand into hers. " Doctor, I know you. You showed me that no matter what you can do anything providing you had other options. I know that you would never have used the Moment, not unless you could see no other option."

" But I did," the Doctor protested, " I wired it in to the eye, I detonated it. Because of me, because of my stupidity, I failed in destroying the Daleks, completing my mission from the Time lords and changing history."

Romana frowned angrily, " They should've altered history themselves, they had the power. They could've stopped the Daleks from ever evolving, from ever existing. I sometimes wonder why they never did that."

The Doctor also frowned, " Yeah, now you mention it, it is a good question. Problem is, we're never gonna be able to answer it fully."

For a moment neither of them spoke.

Romana broke the silence, " I still can't believe we're immortal now, I understand the theory and the idea. But the concept is…." she broke off lost for words.

The Doctor closed his eyes and replied softly, " I know."

" I wonder whether it's worth it."

" What do you mean ?" The Doctor asked slowly.

" Well, what good will longer lives have for either of us ? We have no planet, no people, the only things we do have at this point is each other and a TARDIS that is ageing rapidly."

There was a rumble from the ship and Romana winced, " Sorry sweetheart, but you do know I'm right."

There was a burbling grunt.

" Don't forget that we have friends, like Jack and Martha. Plus the former companions I've had."

" Do they know, about Gallifrey ?"

The Doctor rubbed his eyes, " Sarah Jane does. I met her not long after I regenerated into this incarnation."

" The reporter you travelled with ?" Romana asked curiously.

The Doctor grinned, " Yeah, she's doing well. Except she was pining for me and wasted so many opportunities. She didn't get married, have kids. Pity, she'd have been a great mother."

Romana looked at him thoughtfully, " Martha Jones fancies you."

The grin on the Doctor's face vanished, " Yeah, I know." he looked down at the table.

" Is it because of Rose ?" Romana knew the Doctor and knew that he probably thought platonic thoughts about Martha.

The Doctor sighed, " More or less. My last self latched on to her, far more than was healthy. When she saved her father she said as I was leaving, " I know how sad you are, " when the reapers started manifesting themselves into this dimension, she smiled. It wasn't a nice smile, but rather a smug smile. It vanished when she saw the reapers for the first time."

" Rose became obsessed with me, she might call it love. I know love and it isn't the weird little fairy tale Rose had dreamt up for herself. For all I know, Martha might be the same."

" Then again she might not." Romana pointed out.

The Doctor frowned, " What do you mean ?"

" Explain to Martha, show her memories of Rose on the TARDIS scanner, show her the way she acted." Romana implored.

" I love you, Romana."

Romana looked at him stunned, " You love me ?"

The Doctor started babbling, " Look, you probably don't feel the same eep," Romana latched onto to his lips with her own.

There was a spark and the Doctor deepened the kiss. Romana tasted like honey and caramel. Romana felt like she'd died, regenerated and died again as the Doctor kissed her. Without breaking the kiss, she came round and sat on his lap.

After 6 minutes of non stop kissing, they broke apart.

" Tell me, do you like Martha ?"

" Of course, oh, yeah. I do," The Doctor sounded resigned.

Romana smiled, " Tell her, I wouldn't mind sharing you."

The Doctor looked troubled as Romana giggled.

Martha woke from a very pleasant….dream she'd been having when there was some loud knocking on her door.

" Alright, ok, I'm up," Half asleep, Martha walked to the door, prepared to blast the knocker to death. If it was Jack, she'd castrate him with a blunt fork.

Opening the door, she found it wasn't Jack.

It was the Doctor and Romana.

" Sorry I woke you up, Martha but we need to talk to you. Can you get your dressing gown on and come with us ?" Romana asked softly.

Nodding, Martha picked up her dressing gown, yawning as she did. The 2 Time lords and one Human walked to the console room.

Sitting the girls down, the Doctor pulled up some visual files.

He showed the girls the true side of Rose Tyler.


	6. Chapter 6

**Journey to the End.**

Romana watched Martha as the young woman, well as a human she was younger than Romana, ate her breakfast happily. After watching those images and the way Rose Tyler had been, both girls had vowed that they would never do half the things the girl had done.

Romana hadn't thought much of Rose when she'd first heard about the girl and her escapades, but watching the images as she laughed at other people, put her mother and supposed boyfriend down, brought men into the TARDIS to make the Doctor jealous. On top of that, ripping open the console to gain access to the Time vortex, to say nothing about the way she'd saved her father.

Martha had heard stories about people who once they saw something better than what they already had, just dumped the thing they'd had in the past. When it was over, they went back again. She could see that happen with Mickey Smith, Rose's unfortunate boyfriend.

She remembered the discussion they'd had afterwards.

Romana was shaken from her thoughts when the TARDIS lurched. Rushing to the console room, she found the Doctor and Jack arguing, " What's wrong ?"

" Jack touched a control by mistake and the TARDIS took off. I told you, she's still not used to your immortality."

The TARDIS stopped before Jack could come up with an excuse or a witty comeback and the Doctor and Romana studied the console readings.

Both of them looked grave.

" What is it ?" Martha asked concerned, not liking her new extended family's grim faces.

Romana looked up, almost as if she'd forgotten the two humans were in the room.

" We've landed, in the year one hundred trillion."

Jack's jaw dropped in shock, he looked a lot like a demented goldfish. Martha, on the other hand, was ignorant.

" So, what's wrong ?"

The Doctor shook himself out of his stupor, " We're at the end of the universe."

He looked grave, " We should go, the Time lords never came this far." He looked directly into Romana's eyes and suddenly, both of them grinned.

" As if," Romana's retort made them realise the Doctor and her were meant for one another, and Martha of course.

What they didn't know was that the worse was to come.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer - I don't own Doctor Who - if I did then there would be more Time lords, only a little bit wiser instead of stagnant.**

**The Master.**

" I'm asking, please stop this, just think!" The Doctor shouted at the TARDIS.

" Use my name," the other Time lord ordered.

The Doctor didn't hesitate, " Master, I'm sorry."

" Tough," Suddenly the TARDIS started to dematerialise but the Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver and used it to freeze the TARDIS systems, locking the navigational system with his own isomorphic signature.

Before he could lock the rest of the ship, the Master's voice echoed around the control room again, " Oh no you don't, end of the universe. Have fun. Bye bye !"

The TARDIS dematerialised, leaving the Doctor, Romana, Martha and Jack stranded.

Romana couldn't believe this latest string of events, first the TARDIS had brought them here. Here ! The end of the physical universe, a place the Time lords had never visited. Oh, there was a number of theories of the conditions of this point of time and space, but actually seeing it….it made her shiver and wonder.

After running into a race called " future kind," a stupid name, since the universe was collapsing into nothing, they'd ended up in the last refuge of humanity.

Humanity, Romana had always seen humans as slightly irritating and a little primitive at times, but always found them endearing and courageous with a streak of nobility - excluding Tryst of course. Seeing them here, at the end of the universe was a humbling experience for her. Romana doubted very much whether the Time lords, had they not fought a long war with the Daleks, would've made it this far.

They'd helped a scientist, a professor called Yana. Yana had been trying to get them to Utopia, a mythical place that Romana dimly remembered reading from her days of travel, then again she'd heard of many such mythical places in her life it was hard to keep track. But he always failed and by the time the traveller had arrived, he'd been on the point of giving up.

After a confidence boost by the Doctor - including the ingenuity he'd shown in getting the rocket ready, Yana seemed younger by decades. Romana had found herself smiling at a human whose enthusiasm seemed to match the Time lord she loved more than even her father.

But then trouble.

The launch was impeded by a Fault which caused Jack to die and Romana to actually witness Jack's apparent immortality first hand. It had been sickening, but it was delightful to know he hadn't died. Jack may be shameless flirt but he was a professional and he was a good man at heart.

The Doctor and Jack had gone down to complete the task of launching the rocket into space, whilst Romana, Martha, Chantho and Yana were in the control room. During the conversation Jack and the Doctor had been discussing Jack's immortality, during the conversation Yana had drifted away in a kind of daze, listening.

After the conversation ended, the others realised the professor was troubled, during that point Yana produced a pocket watch that both Romana and Martha recognised at once.

The two remaining time travellers had rushed to find the Doctor - he might not entirely believe Martha, but with Romana adding her own observations, he would. That's why she left Yana.

As soon as the rocket left - seriously, Romana thought, gravity pulse, simple but primitive but sophisticated enough to work for the refugee's purpose, they felt it, another Time lord mind.

They had been hoping that the Time lord in question was someone who could and would be reasoned with, rational, like Drax, annoying as he was, the Time lord mechanic had been good and enjoyable company. They'd honestly hoped it was Drax.

The Meddling Monk, maybe not so good, but nothing too serious.

When they felt the mind of the Time lord, both Romana and the Doctor had felt sick to their stomachs. No, please, not him. He should be dead.

The Master.

The Master had survived the Time war, and he had access to the Doctor's TARDIS. After making sure the refugee's were fine and the launch had been a success, the Time travellers had rushed to the Master, Jack and Martha not truly understanding the urgency.

It would've been easier if the Master hadn't slammed doors in their faces. With a bit of fumbling from the Doctor and Jack, they got through….only to run into the cannibalistic future kind.

Jack, Romana and the Doctor would more or less survive the future kind, but not Martha, who had the disadvantage of only one life and mortality.

The Master slowed them down, closing the door of the laboratory and ignoring the Doctor's pleas. When they got through, thanks to Jack's smashing the controls of the door.

The Master had been backed against the TARDIS, wounded, probably by the dead Chan'tho, Romana had had one eye on the dead alien and one eye on the Master, the evil Time lord responsible for the deaths of billions of people unfortunate enough to cross his path.

The future kind attacked and Jack, Martha and Romana had managed to close the door halfway, stopping the future kind from coming in, but that didn't stop them from trying to break in.

From the windows, they could see the regeneration energy, Romana, Jack and Martha had been holding the door against the future kind whilst the Doctor tried pleading with the Master, who ignored him.

After gloating, the Master had left, leaving Romana wondering what the Doctor had used his sonic screwdriver for.

It didn't matter because the TARDIS left, taking the Master with her.

The Doctor rushed over to Jack and grabbed the arm which held the former Time agents vortex manipulator, sonic screwdriver going all over it.

" Hold still," he shouted at the squirming Time agent immortal, it was a miracle that this wasn't as delicate as defusing a nuclear bomb, but it was still a ticklish operation with Jack constantly moving.

" Look, I'm telling you, it doesn't work. Its burnt out," Jack protested, not seeing the point of this whilst Romana did. Romana and Martha were squashed between Jack and the door and the future kind.

The Doctor retorted, " That's cos you didn't have me, Martha," he managed to sneak past Romana, who'd already grasped the manipulator, and grabbing Martha's hand and slapped it on the manipulator.

" Now !" He shouted, activating the manipulator and in a flash, they left.

Now to find the Master.

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	8. Chapter 8

**The Eighteen Months.**

The Master smirked as he sat in his office in Downing street, sipping coffee as he read the reports and papers that littered his desk. The Master hated the idea of bureaucracy because it bogged him down, there were always those who felt they deserved better, so they established rules over policies that should be as simple as blinking in the light of a sun.

It was a necessary evil though, for what he had in mind. He only needed to endure it for only a certain amount of time.

The last eighteen months had been gruelling but worth it.

The Master hadn't had a fixed plan in mind when he left the Doctor and Lady Romana at the end of the universe, but now his plan was in the makings.

He'd only needed to study the TARDIS databank for information about what his enemy had been doing since the war ended, cursing the TARDIS as he did. Why, of all TARDISes did the Doctor have to pick one that was obstinate and seemed to have a grudge against him ?

The Master had brooded over the information the TARDIS had given him, unwillingly, and for a long time he pondered over it, thinking of ways to exploit a weakness here and there. Then he'd studied the damage the Doctor had done, underestimating the Doctor was a dangerous thing to do as quite a few enemies of the past would testify.

The Doctor certainly had a better link to the TARDIS than ever, the navigational co-ordinates were locked by the Doctor's isomorphic code.

It was exactly the sort of thing the Master would've done to one of the TARDISes he'd used in the past.

Then the plan formed in the Master's mind.

He did it in stages.

One, if you're going to rule the universe, set up a power base, no matter how small and plan out the next move. The Master had used the old backdoors he'd set up in the early seventies when he'd first arrived at this backwards planet, the TARDIS had been resistant to that, the clapped out old piece of junk was as stubborn and moral as her owner, but in the end it was easy to set up a background.

It had been a stroke of fate and good fortune really, that the government was in such upheaval after the downfall of Harriet Jones, former Prime minister. It hadn't taken much effort to become the new Minister of Defence

Two, Archangel. What's the point if you run for prime minister no one actually votes for you ? The Master wasn't going to waste his precious schedule to democracy, if such a thing even existed. The telepathic field enabled him not just prominence for his contribution but also enabled him to tap into people's minds and get them to vote for him when the time was right.

There was something poetic about his old enemies, people who'd travelled with the Doctor, voting for him.

The Master smirked even more at the thought.

Three, Torchwood. It had been remarkably easy to gain access to Torchwood, thanks to Yvonne Hartman, even though the Master truly had wanted to kill her for her arrogance. How could the stupid foolish woman believe Torchwood was superior when the races whose technologies she'd had plundered were nothing compared to the higher life forms ?

She'd been difficult to control, even with subtle hypnotism, but once she'd been converted into a Cyberman, sad that, not, the Master had only needed to control her mind to protect the Doctor and stop the Daleks and the Cybermen from ruining his main plans before they'd even taken off.

After the battle, the Master had gone into Torchwood to salvage what he could. It was amazing, the amount of junk left behind. The Humans, in their arrogant stupidity, didn't have a clue about the potential of the devices they'd plundered in the last century.

The second stage of Torchwood, Captain Jack Harkness. Harkness was a Time agent, the Master had seen the vortex manipulator on his forearm and the sexual innuendos were a dead giveaway. The Captain was dangerous, his knowledge of the history of the human race, combined with his technical ability and the combat prowess made him an exceptionally dangerous enemy. Solution, make him an ally.

It had been the Master, as Harold Saxon, that had enabled Jacky boy the chance to remake Torchwood into something completely different. Unfortunately, depending on the point of view, it meant that the Master had direct control of Torchwood, meaning if he told them to jump off a cliff they'd do it.

Torchwood had been seriously damaged by the Battle of Canary Wharf and the Master had used that to his advantage.

Four, the Toclafane. They'd changed a great deal of the Master's plans in more ways than one. The Master, using the TARDIS, had travelled into the future to the end of the universe, the only place he could go. He'd stumbled across the Humans in Utopia by accident. Instead of the ridiculous myths his human self had heard over the many years he'd spent trying to get them to Utopia, there was the exact opposite.

Darkness. Never ending darkness. The Humans, struggling to survive yet again, became difficult. They'd put all their collective hopes in a dream, only to discover that the dream was as rotten as a tree stump in the rain. The Master, always one to seek an advantage, hypnotised them with a powerful command.

Then he'd left them to it, only returning to continue pushing them.

The Humans regressed into children, beginning their final evolution. Like the Daleks, they cannibalised themselves, placed themselves into shells. Smaller and more compact than the bulky pepper pots the Daleks favoured, proving Human superiority.

The Toclafane replaced Humanity, now they were his. Using Archangel and his own hypnosis, the Master was able to control them and now they all looked to him for guidance and protection.

Five. The final piece of the plan. That would be a surprise the Doctor wouldn't expect

The Doctor was coming, the Master knew. Only this time, the Doctor knew the truth and he was prepared to confront the Master.

But the Master himself was ready, even more so and now the Doctor would finally meet his Master.

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	9. Chapter 9

**Guess whose Prime Minister.**

The time vortex was beautiful, like a turbulent wind of colours. It was deadly, Romana knew, awash with time winds which could age a person, or accelerate their molecular structure so then the person became a pile of ash. The expression, ashes to ashes, dust to dust was highly appropriate in that case.

In a TARDIS, or even the piece of junk that was attached to Jack's wrist, the vortex was something that could be withstood. Temporal shielding would stop the time winds and reduce damage. In this case, the vortex had a hole torn by the manipulator and used like a teleport.

Romana knew time had no meaning here, hence the reason it was used for space time travel.

In a dirty alleyway in London, there was a ripple of light as reality was torn apart, revealing the Doctor, Romana, Martha and Jack. As soon as the light faded and reality sprang back to normal. Breathing heavily, the time travellers only just stopped themselves from collapsing.

" Ooh, my head!" Martha moaned, holding her head. Romana couldn't blame her, she felt the same, but she held back the urge to talk.

Romana breathed heavily, trying to stop herself from retching and putting her stomach back into its proper place as it seemed to have moved, " I hate vortex manipulators, why didn't the time agency find a method of time travel that doesn't involve ripping reality apart ?" she groaned.

Jack resented that remark, " Hey, vortex manipulators are a tried and true method, its reliable."

Romana retorted, " Yeah, being sick is reliable."

" Shut up the pair of you," the Doctor finally spoke gritting his teeth, trying desperately to keep on his feet, " Time travel without a capsule, that's a killer."

Romana and Martha agreed with him.

They left the alleyway 5 minutes later when they got the use of their legs back. Jack looked around, " Still, at least we made it. Earth, 21st century by the looks of it. Talk about lucky." his voice took on a cocky tone that made Romana roll her eyes.

" That wasn't luck. That was me." The Doctor retorted, remembering vividly the way Jack had squirmed when he'd tried to fix the blasted space hopper.

They found a couple of benches and sat down, the Doctor and Jack on one, Romana and Martha on the other.

Jack was still bragging and the Doctor wished he would shut his mouth.

" Still, if you're gonna end up at the end of the universe, get stranded with an ex time agent and his vortex manipulator."

Romana pointed out, " Better get stuck with two qualified Time lords with degrees in temporal manipulation so then the trip would be better controlled."

Jack shut up and Romana smirked.

" But this Master bloke, he's got the TARDIS. He can be anywhere in time and space." Martha pointed out.

The Doctor was quick to respond, " No, he's here. Trust me."

He was distracted for two reasons, first he was trying to reach out with his mind for the mental aura of the Master. The mental presence of a Time lord was clear but yet, the Doctor had trouble finding him. It was like a cloud covering an island, stopping ships and planes from being seen.

Now he knew what to look for the Doctor opened his mind trying to get a positive fix on where the Master was. Looking at Romana, he could see she was doing the same thing and coming up with the same results, if her look of hidden frustration was anything to go by.

Then there were the Vote Saxon shirts and posters all over the place….they worried him for some reason…..

Martha was saying to Jack, " But who is he, and who was that speaking because that wasn't the professor ?"

" The Master's a Time lord, that means he's regenerated."

The Doctor and Romana glanced curiously at Jack, wondering how much he actually knew of the Time lords. Their people had always been secretive and apart from a few legends and myths, no one actually found out enough about the Time lords.

The Time agency had never been a pleasant organisation. Instead of exploration and investigation, they were exploitive and careless, they caused more damage than was necessary. The Time lords wouldn't be stupid enough to leave information about their people to an organisation like that. Not a chance.

The Doctor was distracted by a man tapping a coin on a metal cup….

Martha still didn't understand, prompting the Doctor to wish he'd explained the premise of regeneration when he'd had that piece of living sun in him, " What does that mean ?"

The rhythm was four beats with a pause before it started up again… it was just on the edge of the Doctor's senses. Romana's to, by the look of it.

Jack explained, or tried to, letting both Time lords know that whilst he was aware of the concept he didn't understand it fully himself.

" It means he's changed his face, body. Everything. New man."

The Doctor and Romana were still distracted by a strange rhythm, a rhythm of four that seemed….telepathic. It bordered on mental energy anyway. But there was something about it, something….subtle. But enough to be noticed by both Time lords.

" How are we gonna find him ?"

Martha's question snapped the Doctor and Romana out of their trance.

The Doctor answered that question, " We'll know him, me and Romana. Soon as we see him. Time lords always do."

Time lords had a mental ability to literally rewind an image so then they could see what a person or an object used to appear as. It didn't always work, the Doctor remembered Runcible from the academy, he'd lacked the prowess or even the ability to pull that off until he'd practiced it fully. It was instantaneous for some Time lords, but the Doctor and Romana were proficient enough to do it.

The Doctor was glad that Time lords were unique enough to do that, he still had vivid memories of the Daleks on Vulcan. They'd recognised him at once, probably using some sort of temporal scanner, whilst in other later times they'd needed prompting, the Doctor, being more than aware of time travel, knew that he was visiting them at different times.

Clapping started sounding as Martha looked around at the posters, " But, if he can be anyone, we missed the election. But it can't be." she added in rising horror.

" Mr Saxon has returned from the palace and has been greeted by the crowds outside Downing street." the voice of a newsreader said on a massive television set in the street.

Then they saw him. He was younger than Yana had been physically, he lacked the beard and the slicked back hair that had been his basic physical trademarks in his more willing incarnations, the Tremas one aside. He lacked the decaying appearance when he'd been a corpse and that unfortunate paramedic from San Francisco.

But the Doctor and Romana recognised him at once.

Martha was still speaking, unaware that both of her Time lord friends were more than aware who he was.

" I said I knew his voice, I've heard his voice. We all have," she said gesturing at the crowds, " that was the voice of Harold Saxon." she finished in horror as the implications started entering her mind.

The Doctor stared at the image of the Master, the latest Master, horror written all over his face, " That's him. He's prime minister. The Master is Prime Minister of Great Britain."

There was a new shock, as a woman stepped close to the Master, her body and face hidden by a camera and a bodyguard. But the Doctor recognised her hair, even though it was black. Where had he seen it before ?

" The Master and his wife !" Romana said in a voice that spoke volumes. Since when did the Master have a wife ? Oh the Time lord liked pretty faces, but a wife ? No chance.

The Doctor tried to get another look at the woman, but she'd stepped out of the way again. Was she camera shy ? Somehow the Doctor doubted it, but there were so many possible reasons for her staying out of the public's eye.

Suddenly, both the Doctor and Romana heard a laugh in their minds as the Master spoke, " This country has been sick. This country needs healing, this country needs medicine." pausing as if thinking about what to say next the Master carried on, " In fact, I'd go as far to say that this country, right now, needs a Doctor."

He grinned, the Doctor and Romana's knowledge of the man knew that it was smug and insincere.

It was amazing, truly amazing how a website dedicated to one man could show so little. The biography of Harold Saxon aka the Master, was simple and functional. It was unremarkable as well, not much to see. The story of a man who'd studied at Cambridge, got a degree even though the Doctor and Romana knew he had no interest in human education. He'd probably have walked out 5 minutes into the first lesson anyway.

Sports…business….a novel, even though both Time lords were incredibly unsettled by the title, " Kiss me, kill me, it sounded psychotic….marriage, it frustrated the Doctor no end that there wasn't even a picture, no matter how small, of the woman. Who was she ? Why did the Master have a wife out of the publics eye ? What was the point and why was she so special ? Every instinct in the Doctor was screaming at him, but it was so indistinct. It was a feeling that couldn't be put into words. The Doctor hated it when he had that sort of feeling, even though it was rare. It meant something bad was coming, and coming fast and in this case the Doctor and Romana had no real idea of the Master's timetable. Bad could come at any moment.

" Minister of Defence, first came to prominence when he shot down the Racnoss on Christmas. Nice work by the way," Jack said to the Doctor.

" Oh thanks," the Doctor replied, trying to sound dismissive, ignoring Romana's stare as the word Racnoss was spoken, but she held back her questions. He had no intention of talking about the Racnoss to anyone, that point in his life had been horrifying enough without the need to visit it again.

Romana held the urge to question her fellow Time lord about the Racnoss. The idea of those creatures being around in this age was something which horrified her. The Racnoss had been one of the Time lords most vicious and unpredictable enemies. She was glad the Doctor had been around to save the day, but she was curious about it. But held off, knowing him well enough to know that now wasn't the time to ask.

The Doctor had always had an aura around him, even his jovial and absent minded 4th incarnation, bless him, had it. Romana had known the Doctor long enough to know when to ask questions and when not too.

Martha turned to Romana, " Who is he ?"

Romana folded her hands, " The Master is a Time lord, a particularly evil Time lord. We attended the same academy, at different times. The Doctor and the Master have been enemies for centuries. The Master wants to control the universe and show the Doctor who is better. So far, the Doctor has always won each of their confrontations."

" During the Time war, the Master was resurrected using his bio data to clone him, you'll have to ask the Doctor and him for the full story, " she added at the face of the Human's confusion, " The council brought him back before Rassilon, again another story, as a test. He was given a new lifespan and in return we asked him to fight in the war."

Romana shrugged, remembering the outcry well enough, " He vanished, leaving the cruciform to the Daleks."

The Doctor shot out of his trance - he'd been trying to find the Master again and find out what the rhythm was - he snapped out when he heard what Romana had said about the cruciform.

" You don't think he _gave_ it to them, do you ?" The Doctor asked in horror.

Romana speared him with her gaze, " It's a possibility. The cruciform was one of our more powerful artefacts."

Martha broke in impatiently, " Sorry, but what is the cruciform ?"

Neither the Doctor nor Romana wanted to tell the humans one of the Time lords greatest and most well concealed secrets, but they had no option.

Romana explained that one, " The cruciform was a massive device created by the Time lords to seed the universe of humanoid life and hidden in the time vortex to make it more potent. The whole idea was to ensure all life followed the same pattern as the Time lords. Humanoid, that is."

The Doctor now took up the story, " The cruciform, according to facts and legends, could also destroy life. That's why it was probably a strategic target for the Daleks."

Jack was starting to understand, " With their hatred of life…"

Martha carried on, horror in her eyes, " They'd have destroyed all life with the cruciform."

Both Time lords nodded and the Doctor carried on, " The cruciform was placed in a special vortex pocket and sealed until needed again. When it fell, Gallifrey more or less fell. It wasn't the only Time lord artefact that fell to the Daleks. There were others, oh they were victories to the Daleks and major blows to us. It showed that our people were losing, and losing badly."

Romana scowled at the memories that the Doctor brought back.

Jack was busy in the kitchen whilst the Doctor and Romana studied the website, the news that the Master had run away, with the implication that he'd given the Daleks such a powerful weapon was something both Time lords found disgusting. The two Humans, both having experience with the Daleks could well believe the evil aliens would've been able to do it.

But for a Time lord to….

Jack was saying from the kitchen, " Ok, he might've been able to come back here to make some insane plan to control the universe, but he's got the TARDIS. The Master could've come and lived here for decades. It worked for me," he added sarcastically, coming into the sitting room with a tray of tea.

" No, he couldn't, " the Doctor replied, taking his tea, " When he stole the TARDIS, I did the only thing I could do. I locked the navigational controls, locking the co-ordinates using my own isomorphic code."

Romana looked at him with something akin to envy, " So that's what you did. With your code, he couldn't break it." looking at both humans, she explained, " Isomorphic codes are unique to Time lords, with them we can lock a piece of technology. The Master uses a completely different code."

Jack gave her a pointed stare, " I do know what isomorphic tech is lady."

Romana looked sheepish, " Sorry."

Jack smiled, then turned to the Doctor, " What're his limits ?"

" He could only travel between the year one hundred trillion and the last place the TARDIS landed, which is right here, right now."

Jack wasn't satisfied, " A little leeway….?"

This time the Doctor was the one that was sheepish, " Eighteen months, tops, the most he could gone is 18 months."

With a burst of frustration the Doctor turned to the laptop, " How's he managed all this ? The Master is hypnotic, always has been, but this is on such a massive scale."

Martha said suddenly, " I was going to vote for him." that was so out of the blue it took her friends by surprise.

" Really ?" the Doctor asked in astonishment.

Martha carried on, " Well, it was just before I met you, and I liked him."

Jack looked thoughtful, remembering his own interactions with Saxon, recalling the way Saxon had been bemused by his flirting. Was it a Time lord thing ?

" Me to." He said.

The Doctor looked at him suspiciously, wondering why a Time agent would do that, " Why do you say that ?"

Without waiting for an answer, he addressed Martha again, " What was his policy, what did he stand for ?"

Martha suddenly looked dazed, " I dunno, he just sounded….good," she started tapping her fingers on her other hand, " Like you could trust him," more tapping," He said…I can't remember but it was good," ….more tapping….." just the sound of his voice."

The Doctor and Romana were worried, Martha didn't seem like the sort to vote for someone without a clear and definite reason, but they were delighted that their hypothesis that the Master had somehow hypnotised them somehow.

They were delighted because they knew how to fight it.

" What's that ?" The Doctor asked sharply, pointing to their startled friends hands, " That tapping, what is it ? Why are you doing it for ?"

Martha started stuttering, " It wasn't….I…..I dunno !" she finished sharply.

The Doctor sighed in relief, at least this way he knew Martha hadn't been compromised by the Master.

Suddenly the laptop started chiming as the words SAXON BROADCAST ! ALL CHANNELS !

" Ah, our lord and Master is addressing his kingdom."

Romana, being the closest to the TV switched it on. The new face of the Master, still wearing his black suit - what was it with the Master and black ? - appeared and the Master's face, to those who didn't know him, looked sincere and honest. To the Doctor and Romana, it was fake and insincere.

" Britain, Britain, Britain," he said in the same teasing tone as his Tremas incarnation - the Doctor still wished he'd found a way to bring Nyssa's father back, Tremas had deserved better than that - only for the Doctor to shake himself out of that thought when the Master carried on talking.

" What extraordinary times we've had, a spaceship over London," the image of the Sycorax ship over London at the point of the beginning of the Doctor's present life appeared, the Master's voice still talking, " Big Ben destroyed," the Slitheen ship appeared, crashing into the London landmark, " all those ghosts and metal men," Cybermen now dominated the screen, it appeared that they were under attack, which was logical, considering the fact the Cyberleader had said that humans would become like them," the Christmas star, which came to kill," the image of the Racnoss ship as it launched its attack appeared," time and again the government told you nothing."

The visage of the latest Master reappeared on the screen, " Well not me, not Harold Saxon. Citizens of Great Britain, " here the Master looked like he'd had a vision of the future, " I have been contacted."

The Doctor and Romana couldn't believe it. The Master never learnt did he ? The times when he'd used the likes of the Sea Devils, the Axons, the Ogrons and the Nestenes…didn't he ever learn that this didn't work. On top of that the stupid fool didn't have a decent way of escape.

Why bother ?

" A message for humanity from beyond the stars." the Master carried on.

The image changed again, this time showing a dark surrounding showing a sphere. The colour was indistinct and hard to determine but it had flashing lights that said it was definitely from outer space.

The picture quality was poor, like one of those recordings people took in cinemas, but it was clear enough. Neither Jack, the Doctor nor Romana recognised it, that in itself worried them because they had no idea how the Master could've contacted anybody.

It spoke, " Peoples of the Earth, we bring great gifts. We bring technology, wisdom and protection and all we ask in return is your friendship."

It's voice bemused Romana, it sounded like the voice of a child. Curious.

Suddenly, the image of the sphere vanished, replaced by the unwelcome face of the Master, " Oooh, sweet." he said with a twinge of sarcasm that his fellow Time lords picked up on.

" They've given a name, they are called the Toclafane."

" WHAT !" The Doctor cried, what on Earth was the madman playing at this time ? Surely he could've come up with a better name than that !

The Doctor had thought that his old friend had hated nursery rhymes, or was that particular one of Time lords who'd meddled with time only to be punished by Time and turned into monsters ? The Doctor was certain that was the reason, the Master had always had a near obsession with the macabre and the obscene.

He turned to face Romana, her facial expression clearly asking whether or not the regeneration and the Time war had taken the Master's already questionable sanity to new depths.

The Master carried on, his smug face becoming even smugger, if that was even possible. Neither the Doctor nor Romana could tell if it was the incredulity that his fellow Time lords that made him more smug, or whether it was because he was saving the best till last.

" And tomorrow morning they will appear, not in secret, but to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin," Here the Master seemed to be getting into a stride, an excited stride, " Tomorrow, we take our place in the universe. Every man, woman and child, every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and farmer and, oh, I don't know, every….medical student."

In the flat, they stared at Martha, as the truth of that crack settled in - he knew, he knew about Martha. The Doctor grabbed hold of the TV and what he saw confirmed it, dynamite, with a radio detonator.

" OUT !" The Doctor screamed, grabbing his trench coat and laptop. The others rushed out followed closely by the Doctor.

In the street, the flames gushed out of the windows of what once used to be Martha's flat, the Doctor stared at it.

_Greeting's card_, Romana's mind, the only Time lord mind the Doctor was allowing his touch his own consciousness at this moment in time.

_Definitely, that was a 2 minute detonator, he knew we'd clear the place before it blew, first stage, expose his position as most powerful man in Britain, second, alien first contact, followed closely by 3 - blow up Martha's flat._

The Doctor wondered when the Master, or more accurately, one of his agents had set the thing up in the first place. It was more than possible that the Master had found out more about Martha thanks to the TARDIS, but the old girl would never give something that sensitive away, especially to someone like the Master, unless he checked the navigational logs.

Yes, that was probably it, he checked the database and then correlated the flats position.

He decided to check on the others, " All right ? Martha ? Romana ? Jack ?"

Jack was the first to reply, in his casual drawl only it now sounded a lot more tense, " Fine, yeah, I'm fine."

Romana replied after, " I'm ok, just a bit shaken."

" Martha ?" The Doctor asked. There was no reply so he turned, only to find Martha with her phone out. Didn't she understand that the Master could easily track them that way.

" What are you doing ?"

Martha was distracted as she did two things at once, reply and input the number on her phone, " He knows about me, what about my family ?"

The Doctor knew that was a possibility, but the less they knew the better, " Don't tell them anything."

Martha's temper snapped, " I'll do what I like !"

Romana's hand rubbed his arm gently and the Doctor responded to her touch. If the Master harmed Martha's family, people he barely knew then he would pay.


	10. Chapter 10 The Players Talk

**The Players Talk.**

The Master couldn't believe how someone as seemingly intelligent like Martha Jones could be so fundamentally stupid and ignorant.

Since her parents had been arrested due to Mr Jones's warnings to his daughter - the man hadn't believed his daughter would hang out with a " terrorist " like the Master had painted the Doctor to be, his ex wife had believed it but not him - the Master had monitored Martha's phone, had been for months, constantly checking up on her and trying to figure out when the TARDIS would arrive at the end of the universe.

Now, the silly little girl was trying to persuade her useless brother to hide. The Master didn't care about Leo and his family, he already had the majority under lock and key.

Finally the Master had had enough of the brotherly - sister talk, it wasn't as though Leo would listen to her anyway, " Oh, nice bit of hide and seek, I like that. But I'll find you, Martha Jones. Been a long time since we saw each other last, must be what ? Hundred trillion years."

Martha's voice came back, low and angry, " Let them go, Saxon," her voice rose as the Master's face twisted into a cold, cruel smile, " Y'hear me, let them go !"

The Master's laughter ended with a voice, " I'm here."

The Master stopped laughing as he took out his mobile phone, damn it was brilliant that he kept up with Human technology these days.

In a voice that was reverent, he spoke into it, almost whispered.

" Doctor."

The Doctor, his greatest enemy, his most worthy opponent. He had so few of those, when he'd eradicated them he always missed them deeply. But the Doctor was special, he knew the Master in ways even the evil Time lord didn't know. It had been suggested that the pair of them were two sides on the same coin and the Master had taken it as a compliment. Even if he disagreed with it.

" Master," the Doctor's voice said neutrally.

The Master closed his eyes, revelling in his own title even if he knew that the Doctor hated his alias, the Doctor had never been comfortable with it in the first place.

" I like it when you use my name." The Master whispered.

" You chose it. Psychiatrist's field day."

" As you chose yours," the Master retorted moving about the room, " The man who makes people better, how sanctimonious is that ?"

The Doctor changed the subject, " So, prime minister, then ?"

The Master crowed, " I know. Good isn't it ?"

The Doctor got on track with his next question his voice low and cold, since when was he cold ? " Who are those creatures ? There's no such thing as the Toclafane. That's just a made up name like the bogeyman.

The Master leant back in his chair, his tone becoming nostalgic, " Do you remember all those fairy tales about the Toclafane when we were kids ? Back home ?"

Now it was the Master's turn to be cold, " Where is it, Doctor ?"

" Gone."

The answer angered the Master, he'd tried to destroy Gallifrey himself once, sold the secrets of the matrix itself, but he'd always been defeated. How could someone do what he had not ?

" How can Gallifrey be gone ?" He hissed with malice.

The Doctor's voice became lower in his sorrow, " It burnt,"

" And the Time lords ?" the Master whispered. Surely they were still out there, somewhere, hidden with the telepathic link broken for security reasons…..

" Dead, and the Daleks. More or less, " the Doctor added as an afterthought. The Master could hear the bitterness in the other's tone, it was understandable. The Daleks were genetically programmed to always survive. They were like cockroaches, they could survive anything, their capacity for survival was matched only by the Master's will.

" What happened to you ?" The Doctor asked, bringing the Master back to the conversation at hand.

" The Time lords only resurrected me because I would be the perfect warrior for the Time war. I was there when that Dalek emperor took control of the cruciform." The Master said recollecting that horrendous time. The Master had been taken out of the Eye of Harmony after his run in with the Eighth Doctor and that surgeon. The Time lords had used his bio data extract to clone a new body with a complete Time lord life cycle.

" I saw it, I ran. I ran so far. Made my self human so they would never find me, because, " the Master stopped, afraid of swallowing his pride but deciding to do it anyway. " I was so scared." he admitted.

" I know." The Doctor's voice came over the mobile, his voice awash with compassion and understanding, though whether or not he knew that he, the Master, had given the Daleks the Cruciform in exchange for his life; who knew what Lady Romana had told him ? The Master broke out of his nostalgia, Rassilon, he was truly nostalgic in this new incarnation.

" All of them, but not you and Lady Romana. How did she survive ? The Lady President of Gallifrey, the last president of Gallifrey," the Master added almost as an afterthought. " You survived, so that must mean….?"

The Doctor took a deep breath, the Master could feel his hesitation over the line, " I was the only one who could end it. I tried, I did, I tried everything…."

Awe filled the Master's voice, " What did it feel like, though ? Two almighty civilisations burning ? Oh, tell me how that felt ?"

" Stop it !"

The Master ignored the other Time lord, and went on, " You must've felt like God. How does Lady Romana feel about you destroying the Time lords Doctor ? Does she hate you ?"

Somehow the Doctor's patience and temper snapped, something that rarely happened with him.

" No, she doesn't, you weren't there in the final days of the war. If you were then you've understood how Romana left the war ! I'm not going to argue with you, especially since you ran away ! Don't push me, don't insult me ! You ran way like a coward, only to reappear again. Now, you seem to be back to your old tricks. What's wrong ? Can't fight a war, so you come back and try conquering the universe ? Been there, done that. I've got the shirts and awards for surviving it !"

The Master was taken aback by the venom in the Doctor's voice.

The Doctor carried on, the anger still in his voice, " I'm surprised that you were brought back. I don't care what they were thinking. In my opinion you should've stayed in the Eye of Harmony, it was so much more peaceful. Like I said, you ran away. So don't blame me about the outcome of the war, and don't accuse Romana of running away, she stayed and fought. Don't accuse her of anything! Ever !" he shouted.

The Doctor's voice came back after a moment, " What are those creatures ? How did you even contact them ? The TARDISes systems are locked. You can only travel in one direction, the future. The communications systems are locked by my isomorphic code, you can't even follow a comet. So who are they ?" He finished.

The Master smirked, " You'll find out."

The Doctor's anger came back. " Don't play games with me, you'll find that I don't care for them anymore, you're dealing with a completely different Doctor, who are they ?"

" You'll find out, by tomorrow morning you'll know."

" We can leave this planet, we can fight across the constellations, over the galaxies." the Doctor's voice became more and more desperate, " But not on Earth."

" Too late," the Master said calmly.

" Why do you say that ?" The Doctor asked, puzzled curiosity infusing in his question.

" The drumming," the Master hissed, tapping his fingers on the table in a rhythm of four. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4. Constant, repetitive, never ending.

" Can't you hear it ?" The Master whispered desperately; he knew this was the first time that he, in any of his incarnations, had mentioned the drumming to the Doctor. The Time lords had absorbed the worst of it, but it was still there. With the others gone it was a constant curse, a painful curse.

" I thought it would stop, but it never does. It never, ever stops. Inside my head, " now the Master's voice became desperate, almost to the point of pleading, " The drumming, Doctor, the constant drumming." he closed his eyes in pain.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4.

" I can help you, please let me help." The Doctor said pleading.

The Master ignored this. It wasn't that he didn't doubt that the Doctor was sincere in his hope to help him, it was a combination of his pride and the fact that he didn't have any faith that his enemy could help him.

" It's everywhere. Listen, listen, listen," more drumming, it felt good to be able to put the drumming into something tangible, into three dimensions, instead of some kind of….sound. His previous incarnations hadn't done this, they'd preferred to ignore the sound. Never had he actually worded their existence.

How time changed.

He drummed his fingers on the desk, still talking, " Here come the drums, here come the drums." From the phone, the Master could hear the faint slapping sound, a repetitive beat. A grin appeared on his face.

" What have you done ?" the Doctor's question was low, quiet. Dangerous. " Tell me how you've done this, what are those creatures ?" The Doctor's voice became louder, then his patience snapped at last for the second time.

" Tell me ! "

The Master snapped out of his mood when he spotted something on the laptop in front of him; human technology may be primitive, but they sure did come up with imaginative methods of technology and their forms.

" Ooh look, you're on TV !"

" Stop it, answer me !" The Doctor spat angrily.

" No, really, you're on telly. You and your little band, which, by the way is ticking every demographic box. Congratulations on that. "

The Master carried on, " Look, there you are," leaning back into his comfortable seat, he continued, " You're public enemies number one, two and three ! Oh, and tell handsome Jack that I've sent his little " gang" off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas, so he won't expect any help from them."

The Master could see on the computer screen the Doctor staring at the shop window which had a television inside, he looked like he was paralysed. He knew what was on the news, he'd made sure that news of a " dangerous terrorist group" was running around Britain, Humans were so paranoid and fearful of terrorism these days. Hardly surprising when you thought about it. The Master couldn't care less, but it gave him the appropriate cover in order to frame and tie up his greatest enemy.

" Turn to your right, Doctor." The Master ordered, smirking in satisfaction when he did, Martha Jones, Lady Romana and the freak joining him.

He saw the Doctor's hand dive into his coat pocket and take out his sonic screwdriver, over the phone he heard the muffled, " He can see us," the picture blurred, flashed, then faded into nothing.

" Oh, you public menace," the Master mocked, in a sarcastic scandalous tone. The Doctor had done the only thing he could've done in that situation, even if it didn't do any good, the country was littered with CCTV. Paranoid, too bad that as Prime Minister, damn, he loved that title, especially since he was now the most powerful man in the country. Standing up, walking around the room, he spoke into the phone,

" Better start running ! Go on, run !" When the Doctor and his companions started talking over the phone, the Master interjected loudly, " Run, Doctor ! Run for your life !"

Holding the mobile close to his mouth, the Master shouted, " I said, RUN !"

Pocketing the mobile, the Master smiled.

* * *

" _Tomorrow morning, Britain will be welcoming an extraterrestrial species….."_

The Master flipped channels, nothing interesting. Since he was the one to announce first contact, he knew that the event would be a media circus and that nothing noteworthy would be gained from listening.

He changed the channel to AMNN.

" _The president is said to be furious that Great Britain has taken unilateral action….." _again, the Master changed the channel, of course Winters would be furious, because the Prime Minister of another country was the one on show and he wasn't.

The channel changed to the teletubbies. The Master chuckled; he had fond memories of his time in prison during the 70s, how he'd watched Ivor the engine, the Clangers and so on. He smirked as he recalled how Trenchard, the prison governor of the island had said that they were only puppets for children. The Master had, of course, been aware of that, and he'd been slightly jealous and envious that the children of the Earth had been lucky enough to have such an entertaining range of things for their children.

The Master was shaken when his time senses detected a disturbance in the room as a Toclafane appeared behind him on his left. He glanced at the floating basketball, before turning back to the laptop screen.

" Have you seen these things ? This planet's amazing" The Master asked, trying to make some form of conversation; the Toclafane were all business these days that it was now very rare to make them talk about something else.

The Master had heard of their constant questions so many times this past month that it was becoming repetitive and boring.

He gestured to the screen, vainly trying to make the creature speak, " Television in their stomachs, now that is evolution." he took a sip of brandy, relishing the taste. Alcohol had little effect on Time lords, it was like drinking coca cola with an added dose of sugar.

" Is the machine ready ?" The Toclafane asked, it was the female one; the Toclafane had, under his orders, kept their genders and basic personalities. The Master felt that he didn't want another variety of Daleks under his command that he ordered some changes.

The Master now gave the creature his undivided attention, " Tomorrow morning, it reaches critical at 8.02. Precisely."

He took another swig, trying desperately to ignore the drumbeat, which now seemed louder somehow. Why were they louder ?

The Toclafane's voice now sounded desperate, " We have to escape because it's coming, sir, the darkness. The never ending darkness. We have to run and run and run !"

The Master had been under considerable stress, he'd been trying to run a stupid backwater country on this fool planet whilst drawing up his final plans against his enemies, the drums and the Toclafane not being so far behind.

The Toclafane's voice, annoying and high as it was, made it worse.

" 8 o clock, tomorrow morning," the Master finally snapped, hoping to shut the creature up. It worked.

He got up and walked over to the window. " Tell your people the world is waiting."

The temporal disturbance occurred again as the Toclafane left and the Master was once again alone in the room, making him sigh with relief at the peace and ordered calm of the room. He drew back the blinds of the windows slightly. It was raining, which matched the Master's present turbulent mood.

This plan could not fail. He'd worked too hard, done things he'd never needed to do in order to reach half of his present goals.

As the Master stared into the bleak night, he actually thought it beautiful. He'd seen rain before, on countless worlds. Back home, the planet was surrounded by a weather grid even though the Time lord race had been in their underground city states. When he'd first seen rain he'd been enthralled at the sight of the beauty and the scent of rain.

The rain wasn't all on his mind. The Doctor dominated the most of it, he knew that the Doctor would find a way to try and defeat him. The hard part lay in trying to fight a plan that had been in the making for 2 years. But he knew never to underestimate the Doctor; he remembered his alliance with Goth. That had been the ultimate proof that a cornered Doctor was a lethal Doctor.

He remembered how Goth had underestimated the fourth Doctor, who'd proven to be a formidable opponent even in the Matrix. He knew that the Doctor, when the odds were against him, was a more dangerous foe than ever. So far, the Master had been prepared and ready, one step ahead. He'd need to stay ahead in order to win this round.

He was shaken from his thoughts by a familiar pair of arms which wrapped themselves around his waist. He turned around and hugged his wife.

" 8.00. The world will be ours." The Master said into his wife's black hair.

A/N Goth was the Time lord chancellor in the Deadly Assassin who allied himself with the Master after his run in with Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter. George Trenchard was the prison governor who was responsible for the Master during the Sea devils, the Master used his patriotism against him, used it to manipulate the unfortunate man, who later died.


	11. Chapter 11

I've decided to make the last couple of chapters more Master centric than Doctor - he's had his turn, now it's the Master's, besides I think that the Master's perspective on President Winters makes for fun reading.

Onwards and upwards !

Oh, many are wondering who Mrs Saxon is, thanks to Marcus S. Lazarus for inspiring the story this far.

**The Paradoxes and the Pawns.**

The Master watched calmly as Air force One landed at the airport, a special flight path had been laid on for the man and everything. Not that the Master cared very much, he knew that it was all for show. That was the trouble with Winters, he always needed to be the centre of attention. Politicians needed to be….large in terms of egos and their inability to realise that everything ran differently than their little brains could comprehend.

Politics made the Master ill, but whenever he met a politician he found that he needed to count to 1,300 in his head to stop himself from lashing out. It wouldn't be a good thing to his plans if he killed someone, not before he made his move. This plan was too delicate, too many things hinged on this meeting's success.

The Master and his wife, plus the bodyguards who were clustered around the couple in a circle, watched as the President got in a car - another show, the Master could see that the plane was within easy walking distance. Why the fool needed to show off the Master didn't know. The Master knew that he was more than egotistic and vain, but he honestly felt he had the right to be, these primitives needed to follow him. Not the other way round. Oh, well, he conceded. Soon….

There were times the Master wished that the TARDIS had landed him in America, but unfortunately the navigational system had been locked, so wherever the TARDIS had landed originally before heading for Malcassaro, it would land again.

Even though his rise to power had been fairly effortless, there were times the Master wished it had been in America, stage an election through hypnosis, win by landslide majority, making it far easier to rule the Earth. The only problem being coping with the mindlessness of the American government. In a sense, the Master preferred Britain, at least here they knew how to make a lovely cuppa. This would have to do.

As Winters walked over to them, his face set in stone, the Master snapped off a mock salute. To an outside observer, it was proof that the Master had no respect for the President of the US. If only they knew….

" Mr President, sir," the Master said grinning, whilst hiding his disappointment. He knew that Winters wouldn't be able to tell what was sarcasm if it walked up to him naked and slapped him in the face. He'd honestly wished that Winters would come back with a witty retort, the Master was a genius when it came to witticism, he'd honestly would've loved to play such a game with such a moron, show the pompous American that he wasn't as big and mighty and he thought he was, give him a kick in his complacency.

It wasn't meant to be.

" Mr Saxon, the British army will stand down. From now on, UNIT's in charge of this operation," Winters said in a brisk no nonsense tone.

" You make it sound like an invasion," The Master said jokingly. He knew that if Winters knew the truth he wouldn't be within 4 millimetres of the Toclafane when they arrived. Humans had an expression, the best place to hide something was within plain sight. It was one of the few sayings they had that the Master completely approved of.

The Master had no problem with using that saying against humanity, that was why he'd announced the Toclafane to the world.

He'd also known that Winters would try and take over, it had been inevitable. He'd planned for that, as a matter of fact. Winters loved being on show, just like others of his worthless kind. As Harold Saxon, the Master had limited his exposure to the press, some politicians didn't seem to realise that the press and the media wanted to dig up enough dirt on their targets to fill in newspaper stories.

Not Harold Saxon, he'd carefully designed his dealings with the press to be as timed as possible, all down to schedule. The Archangel network enabled this, making people think he was an open book.

" The first contact policy was decided by the security council in 1968 and you've gone and ignored it." Winters replied, almost accusingly, forcing the Master to come back to reality. The Master quirked an eyebrow at the man's accusing statement, knowing there was more to the man's anger than a simple piece of toilet paper.

The Master knew that the policy had nothing to do with the outrage he sensed from the man. It was because he wasn't actually going to open diplomatic relations, as he thought it would be. The Master had read the policy, seeing ways of bringing Winter's so called " wrath " on him. It was his revenge for the way Winters treated him in the past. He'd have preferred ripping the mans genitals out along with his vocal chords, dressing him as a court jester, but decided against it.

Just kill the man. Still it would've been hilarious, for him at least. He didn't think even his wife would've approved.

The Master shrugged, almost insolently; he honestly had no respect for the man and couldn't care less about being insolent, the Master knew that nothing he said would look good, neither did he want it too. Winters had made his decision, as the Master had planned and manipulated. He'd wanted Winters to take over, what better way of taking control if you murder the most powerful man on the planet ?

" Well, you know what it's like, new job, all that paperwork," deciding to be annoying the Master carried on, trying to make it clear to Winters he wasn't taking this seriously, that was an essential part of his plan.

" I think its down the back of the settee. I did have a quick look, " he added earnestly, making himself sound like a delinquent child, " I found a pen….a sweet….a bus ticket and er….oh, have you met the wife ?" he gestured almost as an after thought.

His wife stepped forward, a winning smile on her face. The Master looked towards Winters, trying to gauge his reaction. The chauvinist hadn't even smiled and shaken her hand. Most politicians would, but the President of the United States couldn't see any reporters. But it would've been more polite.

" Mr Saxon," Winters started, dismissing Mrs Saxon, his tone becoming more and more angry, " I dunno what your game is, but there are provision at the UN to have you removed from office unless you are very, very careful. Is that understood ?"

Not for the first time, the Master was delighted by this new incarnation, he'd been worried about it for a while, it seemed too exuberant compared to his past lives, but it had an almost natural immunity to insolence from Humans. Previous Masters would've attacked Winters by now. Ever since the incarnation which had encountered the third Doctor, the Master had an anger in him which was hard to contain. This incarnation was more versatile, he was able to control his temper with humour.

The Master didn't care about the UN, he already had agents and plans in place to torture and execute them in the next few days. The world would be leaderless and then his agents would take control, further solidifying his hold on the Earth.

The Master mimed zipping his lips, knowing and hoping that it would further antagonise the posturing primate.

Winter's outrage was starting to boil, " Are you taking this seriously ?"

The Master nodded taking the whole thing very seriously. This was part of the plan, to make himself look as bad as possible until the last possible second.

Winters seemed satisfied enough, " To business," he continued, hoping that " Saxon " wouldn't make an ass out of himself as he had already.

" We've accessed your files on these Toclafane. ( " _only 'cos I let you_," the Master thought contemptuously at the simpleton. )But first contact cannot take place on any sovereign soil. ( _I know that, idiot_. The Master thought irritably, wishing the president of the united states of America wasn't someone who loved stating the obvious ) To that purpose, the aircraft carrier Valiant is en route. The rendezvous will take place there at 8.00."

_Again, because I manipulated you, stupid ape_, the Master thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. It was one reason he'd designed the Valiant in the first place. The Valiant would make an excellent base of operations. A stationary base would be vulnerable to attacks from any resistance.

He made muffled noises, which made it sound like he was asking a question.

Winters closed his eyes briefly, " You're trying my patience, sir." he said through gritted teeth.

The Master mimed unzipping his lips, " So America is completely in charge ?" He asked simply.

Winters taking control was a major part of his plan, it would be highly un dramatic if he'd taken the reins and ordered the Toclafane to begin their work. This way, he could take care of Winters, the world and the Doctor at the same time, saving resources and effort.

The anger and impatience in Winter's voice made that very clear, even more than his statement, " Since Britain elected an ass, yes."

The president turned away, trying to get away from the idiot before saying, " I'll see you on board the Valiant."

The Master, again, decided to make Winter's life a misery, " It still will be televised, wont it ? I promised and the whole world is watching."

Winters shot back angrily, " Since it's too late to pull out, the world will be watching." he paused dramatically, not knowing that the Master knew exactly what was coming.

" Me."

Now, the president left, the Master and his entourage watching his departure. The Master was silent, running that last part through his mind, " _since it's too late to pull out," _the Master thought about that.

Humanity had a problem, they were happy enough to believe in things they couldn't see, but if it was staring them in the face they would just claim they couldn't see it.

Winters fell in that category, he was so closed minded it was pathetic.

He leaned in close to whisper to his wife, " The last president of America."

On the other side of the airfield, the Doctor, Romana, Martha and Jack were watching the exchange. Romana watched as the Master seemed to make a fool of himself. Both Time lords knew that it was all an act.

_He's more jocular in this new incarnation_, she thought to herself. Even though Romana had never met him, she knew that the Master had been self contained, isolated, controlled, this version seemed very….open. Frighteningly, he seemed very much like the Doctor himself. She could see the back of the Master's wife, and she felt frustration that definitely didn't come from her. Romana turned to face the Doctor; his face was one of intense concentration and frustration.

The Doctor was once again wondering what the Master's wife's part in this scheme was. Why couldn't they see her face ? Why did the Master prevent people from even catching a glimpse of her ? What role did she play in the Master's plan , if any ?

Then again there was her hair, it may look different, but he was certain he'd seen something like it before. When ? Why did it come back to haunt him ?

He was shaken by his thoughts when he saw the Master's new eyes - brown, like his, the Doctor noted; the similarities between their respective incarnations seemed to be mounting, and that frightened him. The Master's entourage had left, including the mysterious Mrs Saxon.

For a minute, both Time lords stared at one another. Romana swallowed gently, almost afraid that the movement would alert the Master, if he didn't already know they were there. Their human friends were unaware of the simple fact that the perception filters were primitive and crude. Ordinary perception filters would probably fool even a Time lord with the same mental capacity of the Master's calibre, whether or not these crude lash ups would work just as well was another question.

Romana looked gently at her friend; she felt like an animal in the headlights of a hunter's car, afraid to move, aware that the next minute could mean life or death. She saw him looking at the Master, his eyes and face calm and controlled. The Master and the Doctor were staring at each other, neither moving, only the rise and fall of his chest showed the Doctor to be alive and breathing.

_He knows we're here,_ Romana thought, a chill running down her spine. It was logical and impossible to deny, the Master knew they were there.

_But why were they not being rounded up by the Master's guards ? Why was the Master playing with them ? _

The only answer Romana had was that for now the Master was leaving them alone, waiting for them to come to him. It was a game of cat and mouse.

Finally, almost as though he'd gotten bored of the staring competition, the Master broke eye contact and walked away. He had just reached the land rover when a police van came, sirens blaring and stopped. The Master's whole countenance changed to manic as he rushed over to Mr Jones, who like his wife and daughter, were in handcuffs. They couldn't hear what was being said, but they knew the Master was taunting them.

" Oh, my god," Martha said, her face and voice filled with horror and rage.

The Doctor took hold of Martha, the young human woman seemed to be on the verge of rushing over to them.

" Don't move." he said calmly, knowing as well as Romana that Martha would get herself arrested and that would give the Master the excuse he needed to capture them. They didn't know enough of the Master's plan and they needed all the answers to defeat him. They couldn't do that if Martha got them all captured.

Martha protested weakly, " But…"

" Don't !"

Martha's whisper said more about her fury than any shout, " I'm gonna kill him."

Jack was also angry, " What say I use this perception filter to walk up behind him and break his neck ?"

Romana closed her eyes, that wouldn't accomplish anything, except another regeneration. The new Master would be easy to incapacitate but she knew that the Doctor would never agree with that. The new Master may be more brutal than the old one.

The Doctor turned his head to face Jack, " Now that sounds like Torchwood."

Again, the contempt for an organisation that Romana knew nothing about. She recalled the overwhelming hatred the Doctor had for this Torchwood, whatever they'd done it was colossal. She recalled Tryst and Dimmond, the two Vraxoin smugglers, how Tryst had betrayed the Doctor's scientific nature by allowing for countless deaths due to drug addiction. Romana remembered the quiet, dangerous, contemptuous manner in which the Doctor dismissed him.

Did the same apply to Torchwood ?

What had they done to deserve such disgust ?

Romana didn't know, besides they had better and more important things to worry about. Like the Master, a Time lord she hadn't wanted in the Time war in the first place.

Jack shrugged, nonplussed, " Still a good plan."

" He's a Time lord. Which makes him our responsibility." Romana said quietly. Of all the people on the Earth, she knew that she and the Doctor were the only ones with the power to oppose the Master's plans. She was, of course, aware of the Doctor's companions in the past who'd met the Master and fought him, but they knew different versions of the man. This one was altogether different.

" We're not here to kill him. We're here to save him." The Doctor finished icily, his vocal tone making it clear that his mind was made up and nothing would change it.

Jack started working on his vortex manipulator, oh not again, Romana thought wearily, " Aircraft carrier Valiant, that's a UNIT ship, at 58.2 North, 10.02 East."

" How do we get on board ?" Martha asked and Romana had to swallow to save her breath, knowing that what was to come would be unpleasant for her insides.

The Doctor asked Jack pointedly, " Does that thing work as a teleport ?"

Romana's stomach lurched.

" Since you revamped it, yeah." Jack replied, tapping the manipulator controls one last time. " Co-ordinates set."

They reappeared inside a corridor, the faint motion told them it was a ship. They were sprawled all over the place. They groaned, hissed and gasped in pain as their bodies grew accustomed to their new location. Romana closed her eyes and thought, if I never see or use that thing again, it'll be too soon.

Martha gasped, " Oh, that thing is rough !"

She wasn't exaggerating either, as Romana had to snap a couple of her bones back in place, wincing as she did.

" I've had worse nights." Jack replied through gritted teeth, also snapping bones back into their proper places.

The Doctor had recovered, somewhat, and wandered over to the port window and looked out.

" Welcome to the Valiant," Jack drawled. Martha Came over to the Doctor, " It's dawn." as she looked out she had to ask one of the most stupidest things Romana had ever heard.

" Hold on, I thought this was a ship, where's the sea ?"

Romana rolled her eyes, humans were so insular it was pathetic. Jack explained, " A ship for the 21st century. Protecting the skies of planet Earth."

Through the window they saw runways, jet engines and helipads. It reminded Romana of a television program that the Doctor had copies of in the TARDIS. The Doctor recognised it as well, " Captain Scarlet." he grinned happily at the design of the ship.

Romana rolled her eyes again. Boys, she thought despairingly.

As they jogged through the corridors, Romana could tell this was a human ship without even guessing. It was a mess, surely the Human race had learnt that even though it can be efficient doesn't automatically mean that it should look like it came from a factory.

Suddenly the Doctor stopped, his head cocked. Romana stared at him quizzically, wondering why he was bothered with the ship now of all times. Looking closer, she realised that he wasn't interested in the Valiant at all. Something else had snatched his attention.

Jack couldn't believe this, " We've got no time for sight seeing !"

The Doctor was distracted, then Romana knew why, a voice, a telepathic whisper, she tried to hear it better and tuned her senses.

" No, wait, shh, shh." The Doctor urged, trying to concentrate as well.

" Can't you hear it ?" He asked them after a moment.

Jack hissed impatiently, they didn't have time for this. " Hear what ?"

Romana smiled as well, recognising the voice now. The TARDIS. She was onboard.

Martha pushed past them, " Doctor, my family's on board." her tone was resolved, she was going to look for them with or without the Doctor's help.

" Brilliant !" The Doctor grinned. He turned and shouted, " This way !" running down a step ladder.

They didn't jog far, the Doctor flew ahead, coat flying behind him. They came to a pair of double doors, the Doctor almost ripped them off their hinges.

The TARDIS's box shape was stacked between two piles of cardboard boxes.

" Oh, at last!" The Doctor cried happily.

" Fantastic !" Romana cheered.

" Oh, yes !" Martha followed suit.

Jack seemed more suspicious, " What's it doing on the Valiant ?"

As soon as the key in the lock was turned, their happiness died away. The TARDIS interior, usually light and warm, was contrast; dark, oppressive and red. The console was enclosed in a metal cage with cables and pipes leading away from it and inside the structure of the cage. The cloister bell was sounding.

" What the hell's he done ?" Jack shouted angrily.

The Doctor was just as angry, if not more so. This was his TARDIS. His ! Yet the Master had mutilated her. He couldn't believe that even the Master would do something like this.

" Don't touch it !" he yelled. He needn't have worried, no one was stupid enough to touch anything. " I'm not going to !" Jack replied, his voice hollow.

Martha was the only one that didn't understand, but she was smart enough to know that this wasn't good, " What's he done though ? It sounds like it's…sick

Romana couldn't believe that in all the time that Martha had travelled with the Doctor that she couldn't seem to accept that life came in different forms, the TARDIS was one of those forms. But now wasn't the time.

The Doctor was walking around the area the console was standing, muttering angrily to himself, " It can't be." Romana also couldn't believe this, couldn't believe that even the Master wouldn't go so far.

" No, no, no, no, no, no, it can't be."

Martha still didn't understand, " Doctor, what is it ?" it was obvious this was bad but she didn't realise how bad.

The Doctor's voice was low, dangerous, " He's cannibalised the TARDIS." he noted the pipes and conduits which seemed to tap into the floor, going deeper and deeper into the heart of the TARDIS.

Jack's voice was hesitant, almost as though he was wishing this wasn't reality. Romana knew how he felt. " Is this what I think it is ?" he asked

The Doctor didn't want to answer, but he did anyway, " It's a paradox machine." He said, his voice filled with horror and rage of this act of mutilation.

Romana walked around the console cage, trying vainly to see the controls. She knew that they couldn't play with the system to disable the machine. Paradox machines, particularly those built into a TARDIS, were unstable and any tinkering would and could result in the destruction of a solar system. No, she wanted to see more of it, trying to determine what it was for. _Odd_, she frowned, _some of this stuff shouldn't even be added to a paradox machine_, she thought staring at one or two of the components of the abomination.

She peered through the gaps of the field cage, trying to see the scanner screen. She could see it clearly, but the steam rising from the machine made her feel like she was close to a steam engine.

The Doctor had found a gauge built into the cage, tapping it, " As soon as this hits red, it activates," grabbing Jack's wrist so he could see the time agents wristwatch, " At this speed, it'll trigger at two minutes past eight."

Jack filled in the pieces of the jigsaw that they already had, the news had said nothing else, " First contact's at eight. Two minutes later…" he trailed off.

Romana came over to the Doctor, " I tried to see the scanner screen. There was a co-ordinate sequence, but I couldn't see past the steam."

The Doctor nodded, lost in thought. Romana decided to report what she'd seen, " Doctor, I saw one or two components added on which looked like they're not supposed to be there."

The Doctor looked up, " What do you mean ?"

" See for yourself,"

After looking through the cage at the machinery Romana had described, the Doctor frowned, wondering what his old enemy was up to this time.

" By the looks of it, these have been in use for a while. I'd say," Romana screwed up her face as she estimated, " 6 months, maybe more."

The Doctor nodded, " Makes you wonder what else the Master's up to, doesn't it ?" he stared at Romana pointedly. The Doctor rushed back to the gauge which measured the amount of artron energy from the TARDIS. He gazed at it, noting the needle was rising even more, knowing that there was nothing he could do. It galled him, this ship, this TARDIS had always been there for him, she'd been there for all his previous lives, and yet there was nothing he do to help her.

Romana rested a gentle hand on his shoulder, she knew what this TARDIS meant to him, it was more than a mundane and functional item. It was his home. She knew how he felt, she felt the same.

Martha was still lost, a medical problem and she could understand, a temporal problem and she was lost, " What's it for ? What does a paradox machine _do _?"

The three other time travellers in the room didn't answer, there were so many uses for _primitive _paradox machines that it was hard to tell what this one would do. With the power of the time vortex, this machine was capable to tearing time and space apart. Romana looked at it fearfully, knowing that in a short time, the last pieces of the puzzle would slot neatly into place.

Jack looked down at the Doctor, " More importantly, can you stop it ?" he implored the Doctor.

The Doctor was looking at the machine, a hand on his face. He was trying to think of a way to neutralise the machine without damaging the planets in the solar system. All his ideas came back with a resounding no.

He verbalised his answer with his thoughts, " Not till I know what it's doing ?" looking up at the rest of the cage he said grimly, " Touch the wrong bit, blow up the solar system."

Martha crouched down beside him, " Then we've gotta get to the Master !"

Jack agreed, " Yeah, how we gonna stop him ?"

The Doctor said offhandishly, " Oh, I've got a way."

Looking between his human companions, he asked almost puzzled, " Sorry, didn't I mention it ?"

The Doctor was tuning out President Winter's speech, these events weren't supposed to be happening anyway so there wasn't anything of real interest. Besides, the man exuded pomposity in the way he spoke.

He'd tuned out as the president was saying, " …..he has wondered what mysteries they hold." the Doctor stopped listening by that point. What was the use of looking if everything was going to be handed over on a plate ? It wouldn't really happen, not in a real first contact situation. He recalled Star Trek Enterprise, the way the Vulcans had " held back " humanity. He recalled the arrogance of the human characters, their belief that they were ready. The Doctor knew that the Vulcans were making sure that their human charges were trying to be safe, instead they were ungrateful. Like children.

The Vulcans had known, probably, that Humanity would need time to assimilate everything they were being taught, the Doctor knew that in the real world that sort of action would occur, if Humanity encountered a benign species. Considering their alliance with the Master, it was doubtful that the Toclafane were benign. Again, the Doctor was concerned about the aliens the Master had made contact with, but it only lasted for a minute. He had bigger fish to fry for the moment.

The Doctor stared unblinkingly at the Master, he noted the way he seemed….alert. That worried him, it meant that the perception filter wasn't doing its job on the Master's mind. He also noted the way that even though she was in clear sight, _Mrs Saxon's face couldn't be seen ! _

It was as if she were wearing a perception filter, not the sort of thing you'd expect a woman in this day and age to wear, it certainly seemed more advanced than the one the Doctor and his friends were using.

Jack whispered to the Doctor, his own gaze focused on the Master and his wife, " This plan, you gonna tell us ?"

The Doctor held up his perception key, " If I can get this around the Master's neck, cancel out his perception, they'll see him for real."

He looked around the room, knowing as soon as he did that he would be noticed, " It's just hard to go unnoticed when everyone is on red alert." he whispered to Jack, " If they stop me, you've got a key."

Jack nodded professionally, almost as though he considered the Doctor a military officer, " Yes, sir."

Martha's voice was low with hatred, the Doctor only hoped she wouldn't do something, anything, stupid. " I'll get him."

Nodding to Romana, the Doctor and she walked slowly over to where the Master was sitting, he seemed relaxed and confident. It took a while for the two Time lords to edge their way closer to the Master, if they moved too fast they'd be noticed and hell would break loose.

Winter's speech seemed to finish, _about time too_, the Doctor thought, his disregard for the man soaring. " And I ask you now, I ask of the human race, to join with me in welcoming our new friends." he stepped back slowly, gesturing, " I give you the Toclafane."

They appeared, to the stunned awe of the people on the flight deck, their dark silver bodies glinting in the light, four of them, answering the question of their real appearance. They were like basketballs really, dark silver, with glinting lights. They had a sort of retro sort of style.

Winter's addressed the floating spheres, any fear he had was gone, replaced by a diplomatically correct stance, " My name is Arthur Coleman Winters, President elect of the United States of America, and designated representative of the United Nations."

" I welcome you to the planet Earth and it's associated moon."

Winter's address may have been polite and diplomatic, but if anything the Toclafane seemed suspicious. Both the Doctor and Romana could hear, in the backs of their minds where the telepathic connection to their people, came alive with the mounting sound of laughter. They knew it was coming from the Master, for the Master to be amused by something like this as though it was a massive joke wasn't a good sign.

" You're not the Master." One of the spheres said, it's masculine tone suspicious.

" We like the Mr. Master." Another sphere said, this one female. _So they had their own genders_, the Doctor thought, _curious…._

The next sphere was downright rude and petulant, making everyone, including the unfortunate Winters, highly nervous.

" We don't like you."

Winter's was floundering, making the Doctor feel sorry for him even if he did feel disdain for the man as a person.

" I can be master if you so wish." Winters responded hesitantly, as the Doctor and Romana edged closer to their fellow Time lord. Just a few more seconds…

As a sphere buzzed across the platform Winters was standing on like a bee, the president seemed to become more confident, even if he did come off as foolish.

" I will accept mastery over you if that is God's will."

The Toclafane seemed to hold their own conversation, their words and disdain for the man made clear.

" Man is stupid," one said, just as the two Time lords edged closer to their smirking fellow.

Another seemed almost sad, almost like a child being denied an ice cream, " Master is our friend."

The female one spoke, sounding like she was pouting, " Where's my Master, pretty please ?"

Romana and the Doctor had gotten much closer by this point, just as the Master sprang out of his seat, grinning.

" Oh, all right, then. It's me !" To the stunned crowd, he crowed, " Ta - da ! Sorry ! Sorry, I have this effect, people just get obsessed."

The Master carried on, ignoring the stupefied looks on the Humans in the room, " Is it the smile, is it the aftershave, is it the capacity to laugh at myself ?"

The Doctor closed his eyes, wishing that the incarnation who'd frequently crossed paths with his third incarnation was still alive. That one seemed to have more dignity than this new Master did. This one….seemed like him, and the Doctor didn't like it one little bit.

The Master continued seemingly making a fool out of himself, but the Doctor knew him well enough to know that it wouldn't last.

" I don't know ! It's crazy !" he turned when Winter's butted in.

" Saxon, what are you talking about ?"

That question was what the Master had been waiting for, for 18 months. Turning around, his joviality fading, everyone now saw Harold Saxon for what he really was. They now saw him for the evil monster he'd been for centuries. The Master was now exuding the authority he'd exhibited for so long it was now second nature.

Folding his arms, the Master sneered at Winters, " I'm taking control, Uncle Sam. Starting with you." To the nearest Toclafane, he ordered almost casually, " Kill him !"

Blades appeared from the Toclafane as it shot an energy bolt at Winters. The President's body burst into flaming ashes.

Rushing forward, the Master took control in the chaos, climbing the stairs to the same upper platform which Winters had stood on before he was killed, " Nobody move." he ordered harshly. Turning to address the cameras, the Master smirked, " Now then ! Peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully."

Enough was enough, the other two Time lords in the room thought at the same time as they rushed forward, breaking the spell of the perception filters, desperate to reach their enemy.

The Master had been ready for this, " Stop them !"

As four guards grabbed them, forcing them to their knees, their TARDIS keys removed, the Doctor and Romana were soon held helpless.

The Master seemed delighted, " We meet at last, Doctor." Turning to Romana, " Lady Romana, this is an unexpected honour. I have wanted to meet you for so long." Romana glared at him, eyes narrowed and full Time lady persona turned to full power, ready to strike down any Time lord's inflated ego.

It didn't work on the Master.

" Stop this ! Stop this now !" The Doctor cried, struggling to escape.

Contempt and indifference filled the Master's voice now, " As if a perception filter is gonna work on me."

A gunshot rang throughout the room, hitting Jack in the chest, his perception filter ignored, Martha was unable to move, stunned and horrified. Standing up in the room, the identity of the killer was obvious; the mysterious Mrs Saxon.

The Master smirked, " Take it off, my dear."

The mysterious black haired took off a necklace, similar in concept to the perception filter the Doctor had devised in order to fight the Master. As soon as she took it off, the Doctor's eyes widened in horror. Romana was also staring at horror at the woman.

_It wasn't possible. She can't be here, she just can't…_That was the only thought running through both of their minds. It couldn't be, but they couldn't ignore the evidence with their own eyes.

She may have black hair, dyed, her eyes were more colder than they'd been since the last time she and the Doctor had met last.

But it was true. It was happening. She was so different, with her new appearance, her coldness and new outfit making her look a whole new person.

It was Rose Tyler. Or was it Saxon ?

A/N I hope you enjoyed this, to Marcus S. Lazarus, thanks for allowing me to borrow this idea. To the fans of this story, and those of Rose Tyler, don't be fooled. Not everything in this story will be from Broken Faith. I have a different idea to that.


	12. Chapter 12 Bringing her back

I know many of you are disappointed with me taking Rose and making her the Master's wife, but there are a few, not many, that have her as Mrs Saxon in the first place. Never mind those that show her as evil, there's even one where she's a Dalek for heaven sake !

If you don't like it, don't read.

Besides, how many Rose is Mrs Saxon stories have Romana as a main character ? Answer me that.

**Interlude. Bringing her back. **

The Master picked himself up from under the TARDIS console, a spanner in his hand. He looked up at the time rotor, savouring the red hue from the heart of the TARDIS instead of the usual bluish green tone the Doctor favoured.

The colour scheme meant nothing to the Time lord; it was the new additions he'd made to the console over the past few months. The paradox components were installed, awaiting the rest soon, but for now this would have to suffice.

The console looked like someone had installed electrical components which came from a power station and wired them in, it wasn't enough for the main stage of his plan, but for now it was enough.

The Master took another look around, making sure it was perfect, yes, power levels were constant and ready, the only problem lay in the paradox field actually working. After setting up his position as Minister of Defence, rising to prominence after the Racnoss incident during Christmas, the Master had been debating how to make this work before making his first journey into the future, but when he'd seen Utopia he saw the final piece slot into place. Since the TARDIS was a time machine, he lost very little time, imprinting himself more than the Doctor ever did, occasionally threatening the old clapped out machine if she didn't do as he wanted. The TARDIS obeyed grudgingly, knowing she had no other option. Since the first visit, the Master had paid the end of the universe a few other visits. Some for scientific curiosity, others simply to visit the Utopians and see how they were doing.

It had actually been rather amusing watching the Humans tear themselves apart - well, after he'd hypnotised them and compelled them to do it. The Master would finalise his plans with them after this, well, when the TARDIS was ready. TARDISes weren't designed for this, so there was every possibility that the TARDIS would be crippled beyond repair, not something he was entirely happy with at the moment.

He walked over to the controls, hesitating slightly. If this went wrong then it would mean that his plans would need to be changed slightly, not something he liked doing. If this went wrong, the TARDIS wouldn't be able to house the full working paradox machine and the main plan wouldn't go forward. This plan would fry the Zyton 7 crystals and would render the TARDIS useless for months, but the TARDIS would repair them eventually.

He threw the switch, and the TARDIS lighting seemed to glow brighter and brighter until it seemed like he had a sun inside the ship with him. The phenomenon seemed to change, almost as though the universe had closed its eyes to take a sneeze…the Master winced as he heard the TARDIS's screams of agony over the telepathic circuits. He gritted his teeth into a grimace, trying desperately to ignore the sounds. The TARDIS just screamed louder when she realised that the unwanted Time lord was using his mental barriers to block out her screams.

Just when he was sure the antique wouldn't last, the Master saw another figure in the console room when the TARDIS lighting settled down.

She blinked, slightly stupidly, before realising where she was. A look of joy appeared, before changing to one of concern when she saw the new additions. The Master waited for the girl to notice he was there, but when she didn't he stepped forward, then she noticed him. After a minute, she spoke.

" Doctor ….?" she asked hesitantly.

The Master grinned, " Not quite, my dear. I am the Master."

a/n bit short I know, but I want to save the best for the rest of the story.


	13. Chapter 13

**The Escape from the Drums.**

The Doctor sent a glare at the Master, " What did you do ? How did you get her back ?" he struggled against the ape like guards holding him, as he did he kept his eyes firmly fixed on Rose.

She smiled, it wasn't a particularly nice smile, " Hello Doctor."

The Doctor frowned, " How did you get her back ?" he asked the Master again, his mind already working out possible ways the Master could've done it. He doubted very much if the other Time lord had used the same method the Time lords had used in the past, that particular option no longer existed since the Time lords had slammed the walls of reality shut. The Master knew that, but how had he managed something like this.

Rose stepped forward, " I missed you," she whispered to the restrained Time lord. The Doctor ignored her, just as Jack regained consciousness.

Groggily, the ex Time agent looked around, before he focused on the woman standing between the Master and the Doctor and Romana. Rose's eyes were comically wide, " Jack ?"

" Rose ? How'd you….?" he was shot down again, this time by a beam of light. The Doctor turned his attention back to the Master, who was holding a device similar to his sonic screwdriver, " Laser screwdriver, who'd have sonic. Besides, he wont stay dead for long, meaning I can kill him again," the Master finished, a slightly insane look in his eyes and his louder voice.

The Doctor glared at him and the Master sighed, " Let him go."

The guards released the Doctor, who fell to the guard flat on his chest with an " oomph."

The Doctor decided to change his tactics as he got up, looking the Master straight in the eye, he asked, " These drums, what if I can help ?"

" Oh, how to shut him up ?" the Master spat in contempt, as everyone cowered, " I know, memory lane." he sat down on one of the steps leading up to the platform.

" Professor Lazarus," he said in a low tone, sounding like a secretive little child spilling a secret, " Remember him and his genetic manipulation device. Did you really think little Tish got that job merely by coincidence ? I've been laying traps for you for a long time now." The Doctor's hearts almost stopped at the implication that his adventures in the past had been manipulated by the Master. If he'd been here 18 months then how many cases had he been behind ?

The Master held up the laser screwdriver, getting his old enemy's attention, " What if I can combine the Lazarus technology into one little screwdriver ? But, oh, if only I had the Doctor's biological code," he pouted before brightening up again, " Oh, wait a minute I do." Dashing off to a table with a metal case on it, flinging the cover open, revealing what was inside.

The Doctor's hand in the jar.

" I've got his hand. If Lazarus could make himself younger," the Master said fiddling with the screwdriver in his hands, just as the Doctor sent a death glare at Jack for giving the Master a weapon. When this was finished he'd destroy the hand.

The Master's voice caught his attention again, " …..another hundred years. " he pointed the glowing rods of the laser screwdriver at the Doctor.

Pain. That wasn't how the sensation felt, it was like someone tearing his body apart. The Doctor writhed and shrieked with agony, he was starting to feel like his bones were fragile, his skin weathered and parched….

When the Master finished, the Doctor collapsed to the ground, shaking. Romana and Martha ran over to him, helping him up. The Doctor was an old man, weathered, tired, the clothes he was wearing were hanging slightly from his more skinny frame.

Romana's mind went back to Argolis, the recreation generator, the Doctor in his fourth incarnation, so young then becoming so old, more irritable. The Time lady prayed that the laser screwdriver also stopped the regenerative process; Time lords found old bodies hard to measure for regeneration, if the Master's screwdriver couldn't compensate then they'd soon have the 11th Doctor running around.

Martha didn't know that," Doctor, I've got you," she said gently.

The tone of her voice didn't go unnoticed, the Master saw to that, " Oh, she's a would be doctor. But now, Martha Jones, we've flown them in all the way from prison."

Martha turned her head, just in time to see her family being brought in in handcuffs, " Mom."

Francine had tears running down her face, " I'm sorry,"

The Doctor didn't care if Francine was crying, if his suspicions were right then she had a lot to be sorry for. But he had more important things to worry about.

" The Toclafane who are they ?" he gasped, the Master bent down and gestured to his ear, making a sign that he couldn't hear his enemy. Romana's anger bubbled under the surface.

" Who are they ?" The Doctor repeated, his breath was raspy with exertion.

With fake sympathy, the Master held a hand against the Doctor's chest, idly noticing that the other Time lord's heart beats had increased, " Doctor, if I told you the truth your hearts would break."

The Toclafane were losing patience, if the one to speak next had any indication, " Is it time ? Is the machine singing ?"

_I doubt the TARDIS is singing from the abuse the Master's given her, _Romana thought angrily, just as the Master jogged up the steps after checking his watch, which Romana found curious because all Time lords had the power to measure time without the need of an instrument.

" So, earthlings," The Master sneered into a camera, his contempt for the human race plain as day, " Basically, erm end of the world. Here come the drums !"

Loud music started blaring around the room, just as the Doctor started cringing and the sky went dark. Romana could see from the portholes a massive rip in the sky. Hundreds of Toclafane appeared.

The Doctor managed to get a grip on himself, and pulled both Romana and Martha to him, " We haven't got much time," he wheezed. " I have a plan, and you two are going to be responsible for it. Understand ?"

Both girls nodded.

" Right," the Doctor gasped, " here's the plan…"

Arm in arm with the Master, Rose Saxon looked out in awe at the black mass that was the Toclafane. The TARDIS was as stubborn as its owner, wait until the empire was established, she's soon see that everything she and the Master did was for the greater good.

" Brilliant, isn't it ?" The Master grinned at his wife's look.

" How many are there ?" She asked.

" Six billion," The Master let the number hang as he gave the order to the Toclafane, " Down you go kids."

As the Toclafane descended they started opening fire on the humans below, their antiproton blaster releasing antimatter in magnetic bubbles which burst open when they hit a terrified human.

" Decimate, yeah. Nice word. Decimate," The Master grinned at Rose, who grinned back, not a sign of sorrow on her face at the thought of millions of people she'd betrayed, " Remove one tenth of the population."

The radio started going off as terrified people called up, some were governments, others military officer.

" _We surrender, we surrender…."_

" _We're being slaughtered down here…."_

On and on it went, just as Martha Jones and Romana, last of the Time ladies, held up the vortex manipulator between them and vanished.


	14. Chapter 14

**The Journey begins.**

Bannerman road looked like it had certainly seen much better and happier days, the Toclafane attack had destroyed quite a bit of the road, killed a few of the inhabitants before moving on to their next targets, leaving behind scared, dead, shell shocked and mournful human beings. They knew that things were going to get worse, maybe living wasn't the best thing to happen to them in the grand scheme of things.

They didn't know that soon they would envy the dead.

The scene was so chaotic that Romana and Martha had little trouble actually walking down the street, Romana was convinced they didn't even need the perception filters they were using at the moment since no one was in the frame of mind to do anything about the fact they were walking down the street. Romana had to hold Martha back, her ingrained medical persona was reacting to the sight of the injured, they didn't have time for that. It was late at night, further adding to their cover to avoid the Toclafane patrols. As they approached number 13, Martha hung back, letting the Time lady knock on the door.

A boy answered it, a tall white skinned boy with a gash over his dazed features. Romana blinked at him for a moment, his time line was wrong. Physically he looked like a normal teenage human but to Romana, with her senses, he was wrong because it felt like he'd been born a short time ago.

The boy interrupted her thoughts, " Can I help you ?"

Before either Romana or Martha could reply, a woman's voice interrupted them, " Luke, I told you. Don't let anyone in, especially not now."

The woman appeared, and Romana smiled, " Sarah Jane Smith, I presume ?"

" Who are you ?" the woman said suspiciously.

" My name is Romana, you're one of my predecessors. I was the one that came after the one that succeeded you in the TARDIS." Romana said quietly, she needed this woman's help, they both did.

Sarah Jane reacted to that, " Come in. Hurry, the Toclafane'll be back soon."

As they walked into the house, they came across two other teenagers, one a girl and another boy, only he had dark skin. The girl had a broken leg and was moaning in agony, the boy was bruised but relatively fine. The other boy moved to help the girl.

" What did you say your names were ?" Sarah asked Romana, sizing her up. Romana didn't like that, they didn't need this, they had a timetable to keep. Romana had intended to simply tell Sarah who they were, but this was going to need some quick persuasion, and fortunately she knew how to do that.

Romana grabbed one of Sarah's hands, and held it against her chest. Sarah's eyes widened as she felt the double beat of Romana's hearts. Romana moved her hand to the other side of her chest, revealing her second heart.

" I'm Romana, I'm a Time lady from the late planet Gallifrey. This girl," she gestured with her free hand to the silent Martha, who was tending to the injuries of the kids, " is Martha Jones, trainee doctor. We need your help."

" The Doctor told me that the Time lords had died." Sarah said over a mug of water, electricity and gas had been cut off by the attack so they couldn't even boil the water; houses weren't exactly fire retardant either so that option went down the drain.

Romana looked around the audience, noting that children's faces were drawn with shock. She looked back at Sarah, " Back then the Doctor was convinced of a lot of things, like the fact that the Master was gone. Look where that belief got him, it got him aged a hundred years, and a prisoner along with the rest of your ignorant race."

Sarah Jane jumped at the name, ignoring the insult, " The Master ?"

Martha had been a third wheel of the conversation, now she decided to get involved, " You know the Master ?"

Sarah looked at her, then back at Romana, whose face was expressionless. She bowed her head, " Yes, I met him when some mad Time lord drew the Doctor's 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th lives in. I didn't see the 4th Doctor, I heard he'd been trapped in a time eddy. The Master tried to kill them, the Brigadier punched him in the face. Before that I'd heard stories of the Master at UNIT and in their files. What I read didn't do him justice."

Romana narrowed her eyes, thinking back….." Of course, the Doctor and I were in Cambridge, punting. There was this….distortion in time. It only lasted for a moment before it dissipated. We didn't make a connection to it though."

The Time lady carried on, locking eyes with Sarah Jane, " As for the Master, well, I was like you. I only heard stories of him, what I heard…." she shook her head, " He tried to destroy my homeworld once to get some energy to allow him to regenerate again. The Doctor foiled him. I swore never to allow him anywhere near the Time war, unfortunately, some of the council didn't realise the Master's treachery. The little bastard escaped, leaving us to die. Now he's back to his old tricks."

Sarah's eyes went wide with amazement and realisation, " Your homeworld ? Hang on, the Doctor was called back home for some reason. Dunno what it was, but it was enough for him to leave me on Earth. He went back to Gallifrey."

Romana nodded, " The president was retiring. I was just a student studying at the academy then, the Doctor's appearance sparked at study into him, especially since a rumour was started. The council said that there was subsidence from a plague of mice which was responsible, but it was the Master's interference into our planet. The Doctor became a hero to us, an inspiration. Although I don't think he'd approve of that."

Martha didn't get something, " Hold on, he dropped you back here on Earth ?"

Romana intervened before Sarah could speak up, " Yes he did, and he was right to do so. My people were insular, they believed they were the greatest race in creation, which they were, but they didn't realise that other races were rushing to catch up to our level. They became borderline xenophobic, isolation does that to you. The Doctor would never want any of his friends to suffer because of that."

Sarah whispered, she sounded like a little girl, " What would they have done to me if I had gone ?"

Romana's silence spoke volumes.

Sarah changed the subject, seeing the Time lady's icy expression wasn't going to change unless someone did.

" What is it you need from me ?"

Romana became animated again, " Simple, a way out of the country, free passage to every country. I know you have the locations of the Doctor's former companions, what they're doing and so on. We need that information."

" Why ?"

Romana took a breath, " I can't tell you. It's not that we don't trust you," she added hastily at seeing Sarah's expression, " it's just…I don't know if the Master's going to come knocking on the doors of his enemy's friends. If he finds out we've been here, you'll be interrogated, tortured. The Master will also rip your mind to shreds, if he finds any details about what we're doing, that's it. Earth will be a slave planet, along with millions of others, and the Master will have won."

Sarah's expression became worse, " And that'll be my fault."

Romana's voice wasn't reassuring, " Yes. All because you were too curious."

" K-9 !" Romana's voice echoed through the house, ignoring Martha's restraining hand.

" Mistress." the robot dog intoned, wagging his tail happily.

" You know me ?"

The robot dog's answer showed just how well thought out the computer like brain really was, " Mistress Romanadvoratrelundar. I have data records of the various models of K-9."

That made sense, Romana thought to herself. It must be some form of data transmission over vast distances. That meant that this version of K-9 would have the knowledge and memories of the incarnation which had been with her when she'd travelled with the Doctor.

" I'm delighted to hear it, but K-9 I need to know, are you aware of the Master ?"

" The Master. Renegade Time lord. First visit to planet Earth in 1975, instigated second Nestene invasion…"

Romana interrupted the little automaton, " Yes, you know him. Are you aware of the fate of the Time lords ?"

K-9's head lowered as his visor darkened at the knowledge that a version of him had also died, " Affirmative, mistress."

" The Master has a plan, I don't know what. But I know that he intends to pervert what's left of my races reputation and twist it. Sarah tells me that you've been manipulating a black hole. I want you to continue, but I want you to work on it. I want you to make a weapon out of the black hole, you have Time lord knowledge of spatial and gravitic physics. It shouldn't be difficult. If Martha and I fail, then use it. Destroy the solar system and destroy the Master. If the Master and the Toclafane come, stay and do your work. I've spoken to Sarah about this and she agrees. The Master must not continue with his plans, the universe may suffer from Earth's absence, but if it fell to the Master then what've we got to lose ?" Romana said to her old friend quietly.

The dog inclined its head, " Understood, mistress." K-9 vanished.

Martha frowned, " Did you just tell that little robot dog to destroy the world if we fail ?"

" Yes, the Master must not succeed in his plans. The Doctor doesn't have a contingency plan in case we fail, he had to think this plan up pretty quickly. I decided to do it for him." Romana was unrepentant, even though she hated the idea of destroying a planet she was fond of. But if it stopped the Master….she rid herself of that thought.

Martha couldn't help but point out the obvious, " The Doctor wont like that."

Romana's retort was sharp and brought the human up, " The Doctor wont like the Master to conquer the universe, build an empire on the blood of billions. Slave labour camps…the Doctor will want anything done to stop the Master. If that means the Earth has to be destroy to do it, then that's a choice the Doctor wont find hard to actually do. He wont like it, but he'll do it if he needs to. He's done it before, and that meant the end of the Time lords. It was either that or the Daleks taking control of the cosmos."

Martha was stunned by the bitterness of her friends biting statement and couldn't find anything to say. Sarah Jane came over to them at that point, a notebook in one hand.

" Everything's set. I've arranged for a boat to take you out. I have a friend who'll take you over to France late at night. This book contains information about the Doctor's former companions and their whereabouts before the attack. Mr Smith, my computer, keeps track of them. If there's one thing I've learnt about time travel and journalism is that you'll need to be informed at all times."

Romana took the book, " Thank you." she put it carefully into her backpack which Luke and Clyde had prepared for them. It held food, supplies, tools and a medical kit.

" What'll you do ?" Martha asked Sarah.

Sarah gave a grim smile, " Survive. That's all we can do."

Romana and Martha agreed with her.

" Anyway, we've got time. I want to know how the Master conquered the world so quickly." Sarah folded her arms.

Romana sighed, " The Master was at the end of the universe. He was disguised as a human, Professor Yana, he was trying to save the last of the human race, send them to Utopia, even if I find it hard to believe that there is such a place. The universe was collapsing, all the other races were dead, the great empires which had lasted for aeons had collapsed, leaving your kind."

" The Master returned, his memories and knowledge were restored," only Romana noticed Martha's downcast expression, knowing that she was regretting giving Yana the information to return as the Master. They didn't have time for recrimination.

Romana carried on, " He stole the TARDIS, but the Doctor fixed it so then he could only travel to one point in space time. This time. Unfortunately, when we got here we found the Master had been here for 18 months, posing as Harold Saxon."

" Harold Saxon ? Harold Saxon the prime minister is the Master ?" Sarah asked fearfully.

Martha nodded, " Yeah, but I doubt he'll use the Saxon name from now on."

" He wont, not now his plan has basically succeeded," Romana confirmed. " The Master spent 18 months on his plan to capture the Doctor, building the paradox machine in the TARDIS to bring the Toclafane here, build the Archangel network to use subliminal conditioning to win the election."

" And the Doctor was too late to stop him," Sarah stated.

Romana knew better than to lie, " Unfortunately, yes. By that time it was too late."

They spoke for another hour before they left, leaving behind a more wiser Sarah Jane Smith, who now knew the full extent of the events leading up to the invasion.

Martha Jones and Romana fled into the night, leaving what was once Great Britain behind.

The first month of the Master's rule was one of terror and death, millions had been slaughtered in the first attack, but that was only the beginning. The human race had seen nothing yet. With the Toclafane, the Master solidified his rule over the whole planet, isolating it. With the archangel network and the Toclafane, the Master found conquering the world easier than most would expect.

The archangel network was modified, broadcasting telepathic subliminal messages to the whole of the survivors, the messages themselves were simple.

Surrender.

The Master is all powerful.

No - one could oppose the Master.

For the military and religious extremist groups, the messages were simple as well, you can never win, lay down your arms. Unfortunately, the network was only 99 - 98 percent effective. The smaller majority were able to resist, but not much, they could do what they could to fight back against the Master.

The military that was left over was in shambles; the Master's initial assault was designed to paralyse the military around the Earth, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be any remnant left. Army, navy and air forces found that their fellows in other countries were outmanned and outgunned, especially when fighting the Toclafane. Resistance from the military was sporadic, they were hardly a threat to the unrelenting Toclafane. The spheres were merciless in their attacks, the civilian population, what was left of them anyway, was terrified. The Toclafane made sure of that, but the Archangel network stripped them of all and any hope that the military could fight back.

The network also made any military counterattack impossible and impractical; the telepathic network worked both ways, if one military strategist could come up with a plan, or a series of plans, to topple the Master, then the Master would be waiting. Or rather the spheres would, making the soldiers think that there were traitors in their midst.

The Master's confidence that the military wouldn't be able to fight back wasn't an idle one.

It didn't do the civilian population any good. They were starting to envy the dead, the survivors of the constant and senseless assaults were rounded up and forced into labour camps, leaving only a small number who were free. Whilst he was aware of this, the Master wasn't overly concerned. The Human race was battered down, the majority of the word population had been decimated, the archangel network was useful in making them work and not fight back.

What could a few desperate bands do to fight back ?

As this was going on, the survivors were put to work. The labourers were forced to break ships, cars, planes and anything metallic apart, industrial works, computer factories and electronic firms were kept running. Only they employed a lot more people than before.

The big businesses had been torn apart, leaving slaves.

Weapons were put in stock piles around the planet, protected by the archangel network, so no one bothered the piles. The Master had decided when he thought up the basics of his plan that word of mouth wasn't as effective as telepathic conditioning.

As this was happening the first phase of the shipyards was put into operation, large areas around the world were excavated and were used for the foundations of the shipyards. The metal scavenged from the human civilisation was used to great effect.

The Master also took great joy in ripping the power the politicians had once had, they'd arrogantly believed that the Master would leave them alone if they left him alone.

How wrong they were. The Master took great delight in torturing them, killing some of them, including many in the American government, who'd annoyed him with their holier than thou crap. The survivors were forced to work in the labour camps.

Each of the camps were in states, ruled by one of the Master's agents. The Master had chosen them, brainwashed them and made them subservient to him. With the agents, the Toclafane and the Archangel network, the Master's rule over the Earth was firm and iron handed.

But the Master was concerned, Lady Romana and Martha Jones were out there, somewhere, the Doctor had given them a task. But the Master couldn't get the information of what the plan was, the Doctor made sure of that. His old enemy, the Master found, was far more wilful when it came to his friends. The Doctor had sealed his mind, and not even the Master could fight that.

The first month of the Master's reign, the first month of the New Time lord Empire, was one that the Human race was enslaved, depriving them of hope. Their hope, their only hope, was Martha Jones and Romana, who were spreading a rumour that they were going to depose the Master.

The human race hoped, and prayed.


	15. Chapter 15

**Confronting the Wolf. **

Jack Harkness didn't know whether he should scream or weep. The place the Master had imprisoned him in had nothing in the way of comfort, no, Jack was manacled to a post in the middle of the room, the place felt like he was in a blast furnace and the Master had been experimenting on him. The bindings on his limbs allowed no movement, and Jack couldn't even use a lavatory except once a week, twice if the Master was feeling generous.

Jack was to dangerous a prisoner for the Master to be let out of sight, the Time lord may be contemptuous of him being a Time Agent, the less said about him being immortal the better. But the Master was being incredibly paranoid about Jack; Time Agent training was incredibly rigorous, not to mention the tedious and unnecessary training he'd received from the first and second world wars.

Jack Harkness was a martial artist, a boxer, skilled in swords and knives, explosives, weapons and tactics, most of them gleaned from his time in the 51st century and on his travels. Travelling really did broaden the mind.

The Master may've been insane but he was far from stupid, he'd managed to keep Harkness on board Valiant. If he hadn't then he'd have made a dangerous enemy. Jack was immune to Archangel now, his psychic training, another souvenir from the future, was now protecting him against the telepathic signals the network broadcasted.

His training also helped him, the agency had adopted many forms of training - ways to ensure physical fitness, computer and engineering, but they also taught their operatives how to withstand pain and discomfort.

That training was a godsend in this case.

Jack wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that he was in this position, constantly trying to ignore the pain he was feeling, or the cramps. Even with his training the sensation of cramp was nearly unbearable, but Jack wasn't going to let the Master win and gloat with him screaming.

Grimly Jack took a look around the room; the floor was littered with the remnants of the Master's torture; a set of knives for administering death of a thousand cuts, a very long and thick electrical cable attached to a helmet from an old electric chair - Jack shuddered as he remembered the electricity zapping him into death, not a good way to go - a long hose which the Master had used for drowning him after sticking the damn thing down his throat, a cat of nine tails which used a thousand times made Jack die, an axe which was slammed into the Time agent's head, a meat grinder - that had been horrible Jack winced, a matter disintegrator; where the Master got it Jack didn't know nor did he really care, the fucking thing had destroyed his torso and part of his legs, it had taken him a week to be put back together, an industrial buzz saw which the Master used to slice him in half, a Sontaran fragmentation grenade which had incinerated a good half of the room and Jack, a solarium solar bomb which had the same effect only much hotter, Jack was sure he still had the burns, a razor whip which had sliced off his arms and right leg and then his head - Jack still saw the stains of blood and of course, the constant remnants of cartridges from spent bullets.

Jack also had another reason to be distraught; the Doctor had told him of the Toclafane. Jack had heard the Master say to him that if he'd told the Doctor the truth, then his hearts would break. The Master decided to do it anyway, about a month into the invasion of Earth.

The deranged Time lord had told the Doctor, later the psychopathic lunatic had brought the aged Doctor here, a manic and insanely crazy grin on his face. The Doctor had told him, knowing full well the Master would do the honours of telling Jack.

The Toclafane were the Utopians.

Jack had been shocked, stunned by the news. The Utopians had fallen so far but Jack had enough knowledge in psychology to know the reason; the utopians, the last remains of humanity, had been grasping at straws, Jack remembered only to well the little rumours and hopes they'd had of Utopia, how the sky was made of diamonds, that each and every home was a palace in themselves, that Utopia was a white floating city in space as the universe collapsed around them. If what the Master had told the Doctor was true, and there was plenty of evidence that suggested he was telling the truth, then the reality of Utopia wasn't what the colonists had it cracked up to be.

Jack tried to imagine what the Utopians had to go through to become the Toclafane; he had sincere doubts that the Master hadn't interfered, it wouldn't surprise him if the Master hadn't manipulated the colonists on Malcassairo by sending them that message, knowing full well how disappointed and despondent they'd be when they discovered the truth of the place. Jack wondered if the Master had influenced the humans to do what was needed to become the spheres they were now, Jack refused to believe they'd just arrived and went " Oh, Utopia isn't Utopia, I know lets decapitate ourselves, put ourselves into spherical casings and forget what it meant to become Human."

Jack was sure the Master had done something to them, he refused to believe that they'd become what they were without outside help. He was sure he wasn't alone; Jack had seen the Doctor's face as he was wheeled out of here, the Doctor may believe the Masters story about who they were but not the how.

It was humbling.

Jack found himself humbled, these people had been the descendents of a race which had gone through ice ages, meteor collisions, wars, nuclear wars, interplanetary wars, invasions and occupations, inquisitions, 14 empires, 13 federations, 4 republics and undergone many solar flares and natural disasters, and yet it took the End of the Universe to make them into something like that. Jack was proud that the Human race hadn't fallen at an earlier stage, but that didn't mean he liked what they'd become now. The fact they were following the Masters orders to slaughter their own ancestors…..Jack was sure they were twisted by the mind by the Master.

He refused, absolutely refused, to believe that they were doing it if they had a choice.

Another thought went to Romana and Martha, two girls he barely knew. Martha he could relate to, another 21st century inhabitant, human, female, beautiful, but the fact she was jealous of Rose Tyler…..

He didn't think that sort of jealousy would make the Doctor attracted to her, if he actually was. Jack was sure that the Doctor loved Romana.

Romana herself was like the Doctor in many ways, she was long lived, but she seemed more like the Time lords of legend. In the legends the Time lords were said to be cold, calculating and uncaring. Romana wasn't like that, but Jack was sure she'd been trained to act like that. He could see that Romana and the Doctor were close, in ways that Martha and Rose could never be.

Rose….how could that girl become who she was now ? Jack closed his eyes, trying to equate the girl he'd once known to the bitch who'd shot him when the Master took control.

At the sound of the doors opening Jack's eyes snapped open, only to wish he hadn't, he'd honestly thought it was the Master coming back to torture and kill him again, only to find that what was coming was much, much worse.

Rose Saxon was standing there, dressed in clothes that Jackie Tyler would've been bankrupted if she'd tried buying them. Jack had known enough of Jackie's financial woes to not be aware that there were some things she could and could not afford.

But Rose didn't seem to care.

She smiled at him, a smile that would've been friendly if Jack considered her a friend, " Hello Jack."

" Rose, did you find time in your schedule of murder and betrayal to come and see me ?" Jack asked grimly, not showing his emotions.

Rose seemed hurt by the accusation, " I'm not a murderer."

Jack quirked an eyebrow, " You're not a murderer ? Then why is it I heard that you personally massacred a family who was trying to escape custody ?"

Rose shot a glare at the guards, wondering if they were the ones to spread that story around. It was true, and Rose had personally shot a six month old baby in the head, along with slitting the throat of a 3 year old boy. But she wasn't going to plead with Jack, he'd understand this would be part of the greater good in the future.

Rose swallowed, trying to regain some composure, " I just wanted to see you Jack, I haven't had the chance. I've been very busy."

But Jack had no intention of letting the accusation get away, " Yeah, betraying the Doctor and your whole race is being busy. Yep I can see that as being busy."

Rose's face narrowed into an angry scowl, " What I'm doing is ensuring the survival of the human race. Do you really believe that I want them to become like that ?"

Jack knew she was talking about the Toclafane, but he couldn't see how the alternate future the Master had created would save them if he murdered millions of them. He verbalised that thought, wondering how the bitch in front of him would react, hoping it would give him the drive for an argument.

" The rate your going, I'd be surprised if humanity lives by the end of the century. You're killing them Rose, you and the psycho hubby of yours." Jack said calmly.

Rose changed the subject, " How did you become like this ? You gave me a fright when you woke up."

Jack smiled, a tight smile, even though she hadn't taken the bait. Boy he was gonna enjoy this, " That's because of you Rose, you taking the vortex into yourself. I can't die."

" Oh my god."

" Yeah," Jack nodded, " I can't die because you brought me back to life. That's why your bullet and the Master's little tricks," he nodded around the room where Rose was walking through, where the remains of the Master's torture devices littered the floor," couldn't kill me."

" Now," Jack concluded, " I can't die. I'm like this forever, and its all cause of you."

" I'm sorry Jack."

Jack frowned, wondering if the bitch was being sincere.

Rose carried on, her false sympathy grating on Jack's nerves and really starting to fray his temper.

" You, being immortal, not able to die."

" I was ready to die, then I saw Utopia, there I saw the last of Humanity try to escape the end-" Jack was interrupted by Rose who was shaking her head.

" No, Jack. They failed," Rose protested, " They tore themselves apart, became _animals, _they became scavengers."

Jack put in hotly, " What did you expect Rose, that the sole survivors of the end of the universe would live in a white palace and watch as the universe they'd lived, worked and fought in died ? Utopia was a dream Rose, a dream that turned to disappointment. It wasn't their fault."

" It was Jack, they turned against one another. The Master showed me, the Doctor failed." Rose argued stubbornly.

Jack's temper flared, " The Doctor didn't fail them, he tried to help them. There is a difference. And another thing, did you actually see them tear each other apart to become the Toclafane, or did the Master leave that part out ?"

Rose's uneasy silence told Jack what he wanted to know. The Master had manipulated the Toclafane in their early stages before showing Rose the final stage, putting the Doctor in a bad light and making out he was the monster. Jack marvelled at the manipulation, even though it made him ill.

Rose tried to regain the argument and try to show herself she wasn't in the wrong. She may have tried to make herself sound mature and sensible, but she came off as a wheedling little child to Jack.

" That wasn't the only time the Doctor's failed or made a situation worse. He killed the spider things-"

" What spider things ? " Jack asked curiously.

" Red, they were red, they had a ship shaped like a star."

" Oh. The Racnoss." Jack nodded, wondering how to make Rose see sense, " The Doctor killed the Racnoss because according to legends they were omnivorous and consumed planets, whole races. If he let them live then he'd put the whole universe into jeopardy, he had to kill them."

" But they were children - "

" Doesn't make a shred of difference. Any Racnoss is dangerous, no matter their ages. You're just making excuses Rose, why are you doing this ?" Jack spat at her, wondering how the girl he'd once known had become this deluded psycho, then Jack leant back into the post he was chained to.

He wasn't getting through to her.

Rose was shaking her head in denial, " What about Martha Jones, or that other bitch ?"

" What about them ?" Jack asked, genuinely confused by the line of the questioning.

" If he truly loved me, why then does he have them ?"

Now Jack understood, Rose was jealous. " You mean why he lets them travel with him ? Why shouldn't he ? There are many wives and husbands who let go of their feelings and marry others when their former spouse has died. Don't you believe that the Doctor should have that right ?"

Clearly not, if what Rose said next was any indication.

" I loved him, he loved me. He should've kicked 'em out of the TARDIS." Rose nodded her head, thinking that the Doctor in her dreams would do that.

" Again, why is it any business of yours ? I'm more interested in why you think this," he gestured around the room with the blood, burns, spent bullets and relics from the dark ages littered the room, " is necessary."

" It's for the greater good." Rose nodded, thinking this was for the greater good.

" What greater good ? Murder ? Killing a race for something that hasn't happened yet ? The end of the universe doesn't happen for trillions of years, there are millions of years for humanity yet. But you're killing them for some greater good, what the fuck has the Master got you believing ?"

Rose was resolute, in fact she wasn't even listening to Jack, " He says there are ways of stopping the end of the universe, that the new Time lord empire would be stronger than before."

Jack gaped at her, mouthing the words in disbelief. After a minute he found his voice, but his disbelief hadn't left him. In fact, it fuelled his argument.

" New Time lord empire ? Did the Doctor never tell you about his people ?" managing to keep his monologue going before the arrogant woman in front of him could respond, he kept talking, " The Time lords didn't have an empire. They were in charge of time, space and matter. That was ownership enough. They weren't interested in an empire."

Rose smirked, " How would you know ?"

" Legends, and records of the Time lords that had been preserved," Jack fought back against the smirk that was fighting to emerge on his own face, seeing that expression on Rose's face had made him want to punch her.

" I know Rose, believe me. The legends of the Time lords tell me of something radically different from the picute you are trying to paint. Do you really believe that the Time lords would want this ?"

" It doesn't matter. They're dead," Rose said callously. Jack nodded, his suspicion confirmed. Rose wasn't doing this for the Doctor.

She was doing it for herself.

The Doctor was sitting in a wheelchair on the main deck of the Valiant. That was all he'd been doing really, just sitting around and watching and waiting as time passed before the next day came.

The rapid ageing on his body had drastically affected him and his health, the medical officer on board the ship was tasked with keeping him alive, but since the UNIT man had never met or seen a Time lord, never mind actually medically examine him, the Doctor had been worried. But it was a relief that the man had studied the various bits and pieces of Time lord biology the UNIT people of the 70s had left. If they hadn't have made notes then the Doctor would've been concerned.

He looked up as the doors opened and Rose stepped in, looking arrogant as she sauntered up to him.

The Doctor looked away from her. He had nothing to say to her, and then again she wouldn't listen to anything he had to say, so there wasn't any point to talking to her.

" You do know, don't you ?"

The question was so illogical and random that the Doctor didn't understand it. Luckily Rose realised that she'd worded the question rather badly.

" You know that I'm doing this for you ?" Rose clarified.

The Doctor wheeled his chair closer to the window, looking out he could see a country with smoke rising faintly in the distance. The Toclafane had been busy. The fact the spheres were in fact the twisted descendents of the human race had indeed broken his hearts, but he should've realised sooner than a short time after the initial first contact and the invasion to connect the dots.

The TARDIS had only been capable of travelling into the future, the end of the universe. The communication system had been fried. It had been locked with his own isomorphic code, of course the Master would've found a sick way of perverting that. The fact he'd done the same to the Toclafane made him feel sick.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts as he studied Rose, " You think that I should be grateful to you for murdering your own species, destroy your own world ? Your wrong Rose, you always thought about yourself, " the Doctor said, letting his contempt for the girl show through, " It was always about you, number one. Why are you even talking to me ?"

Rose sat down, not getting the message he just wanted to be left alone, " I've had a word with Jack. He doesn't understand either, but you both will. The Master says you will."

The Doctor shook his head, " The Master doesn't care about you, Rose, just like he doesn't give a damn about the human race. He doesn't care if they live or die, he hopes they preferably died."

Rose's protest was loud and even attracted the attention, discretely mind, of the workers, " That's not true ! He has plans to bring the Time lords and Humanity together. Humanity will be -"

" Slaves ? Target practice for the Master, you or the twisted things the Master dragged back from the future ?" The Doctor interjected, his reedy voice becoming angrier and angrier.

" The Time lords, and don't you dare use them in your arguments again, would never ever allow or want this. You seem to forget, me and the Master and Romana are all that's left of the Time lords. I doubt Romana would ever give herself to him."

Rose sneered, " What's between you two, anyway ?"

The Doctor frowned, realising he'd given too much away. He'd basically told Rose that he was attracted to the brilliant Time lady.

" Unlike you, she's worth it." the Doctor said at last.


	16. Chapter 16

**The Chestertons. **

Martha and Romana were just leaving a church that held some workers for the Master's labour force. Both girls were tired, even Romana, who was the strongest of the pair.

They were just about to look for the shelter - the church was too open, one of the Toclafane who rounded the slaves up would probably see them, even with the perception filter - Romana still needed to find an opportunity to adjust them, to make them less crude.

" Excuse me, miss Jones and miss Romana," A voice spoke from behind them. When the girls turned to face the speaker they saw a man and a woman. They looked like they were in their thirties, but Romana could see that there was something wrong, time didn't run through them like other people. They were not what they seemed.

The man was tall, well built, handsome with dark hair, his eyes showed an exceptional - for a human - intellect, the woman next to him reminded Romana of a schoolteacher of hers, she was kind looking, but there was a sort of severity that would kick in when needed. But right now she seemed, like the man, desperate to speak to them.

" Yes ?" Martha asked.

The man looked uneasy, " We'd like to speak to you, if you can spare the time that is."

The man and woman led them away, near the alter where they wouldn't be disturbed.

For a moment both parties looked at one another, studying each other. Then the man broke the silence.

" We believed your story, and we intend to help spread the word." The man smiled to put them at their ease.

The woman added with a wry smile, " We do, after all, have a common friend."

Martha gasped figuring out these people, which was easy. " You've both travelled with the Doctor ?"

The couple smiled, " That's right. My name is Ian Chesterton, and this is my wife -"

Romana gasped, she knew these people, well, she'd heard of them.

" Barbara."

They turned to face her in astonishment, " The Doctor's told you about us ?" Barbara asked.

Romana lowered her eyes, in truth the Doctor had only told her when she'd rooted through one of the old rooms of the TARDIS, finding a photo of the couple. The Doctor had only told her when she'd told him to. He was really easy, Romana thought with a smile.

" More or less. You made quite an impression," Romana said with a smile," breaking into the TARDIS, following Susan back from school, helping him become who he is now by stopping him kill that caveman. Stopping the Daleks on Skaro."

At the mention of the Daleks and Skaro, she grimaced remembering the hellish encounter she'd had on that planet with the slaves, the mine working for locating Davros, and the Movellans.

Martha interrupted her line of thought, like always. Why the human didn't learn polite conversation was beyond the Time lady's comprehension.

" Hold on, caveman. The Doctor was going to kill a caveman ?" Martha couldn't envision a time when the Doctor, a champion of justice in the universe, how corny that sounded, would want to kill a caveman.

Ian looked uncomfortable, " Well the caveman was wounded, I like to think the Doctor was thinking of us. And Susan." He added.

Romana lowered her eyes, uncomfortable of talking about a sensitive topic. Unfortunately, Martha Jones, whilst a great medical expert, wasn't very good at noticing such things.

" Who's Susan ? Romana ?" Martha asked her directly.

Romana sighed, " Susan was the Doctor's granddaughter. I don't know if she's survived."

" Survived ? Survived what ?" Barbara's face was stricken with worry for her old student and friend. Ian looked as frightened.

Romana closed her eyes, glaring at Martha briefly. " A lots happened since you left the Doctor. Me, the Doctor," she hesitated here, unwilling to except the Master as a Time lord, " and the Master," she said reluctantly, " are from the same race. We're called Time lords, we controlled the structure of the universe, we travelled in ships like the TARDIS, we protected the universe."

Romana looked at them pointedly, " But we weren't invincible. We were embroiled in a war with the Daleks, and we put up a good fight. But we were losing. Badly. As a result every Time lord and lady was brought in to help us fight, the renegades, of which the Doctor was once a proud member,"

" Renegade ?" Ian and Martha asked at the same time, desperate to learn something new about the Doctor and his people.

Romana sighed. This was going to be a long night.

" Contrary to what my people thought, and you might think, we weren't perfect. We'd been in power for 10 million years, never advancing, always standing still. Talk about stagnation. I used to think our people would outlive the cosmos, that we were safe. The travels I had with the Doctor, the time I spent stopping slavery, my own imprisonment in an alternate universe, the slavery and torture I endured by the Daleks and the Time war broke me of that.

" Time lord society was rigid, I guess you could liken it with the 1800s, with a class system, parents arranging marriages. That sort of atmosphere, it's stifling especially for Time lords with the same sort of mindset of the Doctor.

" Even amongst my people…." Romana shook her head, trying desperately to come up with an explanation for the man she loved more than life itself.

" The Doctor, and don't repeat any of this, had a very difficult life. He wasn't loved much by his family, he had average grades at the academy, he tried desperately to earn his family's respect. But nothing he did worked. His family looked down at him, the Time lords at the academy did the same, they looked down on him, said he wasn't a proper Time lord." Romana's tone grew angrier and angrier as she thought about it, and the parallels of her own life before she left her planet.

Romana, by contrast, had been perfect. She'd had perfect grades, studied ahead, and, as humans said, was the perfect teachers pet.

But her family wanted her to do things that now felt like she was being locked in a prison. Being something she wasn't didn't sit well with the Time lady. Romana loved who she was, she loved the Doctor, she loved his insane moments, she loved his brilliance, she loved the TARDIS, old and rackety as she was, she was just wonderful.

Romana pulled herself out of her reverie, " When he failed his TARDIS examination for the 10th time running, that was it. He stole an old TARDIS, and left. He travelled around a bit, learning everything he could. His travels showed him that the Time lords and their opinions didn't matter, all that mattered was what he did for himself."

" When he got back, he changed his whole reputation, turned things around. In a short time - 60 years, he became one of the greatest councillors back home on the council. During that time he met a Time lady, a Time lady in her final life. She didn't like life on Gallifrey anymore than he did, only she didn't have the courage to be like him and walk away, she wanted to have a family before she died. They were a perfect couple."

Romana felt jealousy as she spoke of the Doctor's first wife. But it didn't matter, not anymore.

" They had a son and a daughter, but they were nothing like their parents. They were like all the others. Boring, by the book, that sort of thing. But the daughter married the son of another Time lady who would become one of the most prominent renegades. She would later be exiled for turning mice into monsters, don't ask why. I don't understand the logic. She would travel to Earth, India and find a name for herself. She would be called Rani. But her child, and the Doctor's child, would have a granddaughter. Susan became orphaned, when her parents were working in research. The Doctor and the Rani took turns to look after her. The Rani may've been an arrogant bitch, but she loved her, if from what I observed in the field is true. Later on, the Rani was exiled by the president himself. The monsters she'd made took a chunk out his leg, and killed his pet cat.

" Not long after the Doctor and Susan left our world, travelled before they arrived on Earth. You know the rest."

Ian and Barbara were still assimilating the details of the Doctor's life. As teachers they'd seen how abusive school and home life was. The fact it had happened to the Doctor explained a lot about him, his motivations, his vulnerabilities and everything about his nature.

The news that the Doctor had been bullied and looked down upon when he was growing up was news to the couple, Ian and Barbara remembered how closed the Doctor was, hardly speaking about himself, Susan or his people. Ian remembered how insensitive he'd been, always asking him irritating questions.

Barbara, unlike her husband, had been content with the idea of waiting for the Doctor to explain himself to them, and her idea paid off. At times. The Doctor was a private individual, Barbara understood that even though Ian hadn't.

Martha had heard about the Untempered Schism, about how the Doctor had run away, how the Master had been driven insane by the sight of the Time vortex. Martha had no idea how the Doctor, now she knew a bit more about him and his past, had coped.

Martha shuddered as she thought about how she'd cope if she looked into the schism, and couldn't imagine what she'd see.

Martha looked at Romana, the Time lady didn't look comfortable, and Martha cursed. She'd always known she suffered from a big mouth, that she always pried into other people's business when someone else mentioned a little tidbit. Now she'd nosed her way into the Doctor's own past, she'd made Romana speak about something that was incredibly strange, incredibly…._him_. Martha had seen the Doctor and Romana interact, seen the way they looked, and whilst she felt jealous, Martha knew she could never be the person the Doctor needed, and that hurt.

Romana's question to Ian and Barbara shook Martha out of her little fantasy world, " I know you two left the Doctor on the planet Mechanus after a chase by the Daleks, and that you two took a Dalek time machine back to your home time. What I want to understand is how you two haven't aged a day. You two don't look older than the day you left the Doctor."

Ian and Barbara looked at one another. This had always been a problem for them, their families had treated them like freaks and there were times they cursed the Doctor because of it they couldn't lead normal lives. Rumours followed them, stories, more absurd, followed them. They hated it completely.

" We don't know."

Ian's answer irritated Romana, who didn't hesitate when she spoke more sharply than Martha had heard, " What do you mean you don't know ?"

Barbara ran a frustrated hand through her hair, stress from doing the Master's dirty work and the question making her as sharp as she was when she was a teacher.

" We don't know. Is this normal ?"

Romana's voice became like a lecturers, " No, TARDIS travel isn't designed to be like this. In a multidimensional environment aging is slowed, but the process returns to normal when you leave. Wait, the Dalek time machine…." she trailed off, murmuring quietly to herself.

" The Dalek time machine. Did the Doctor say anything about it ?"

Ian was thrown by the question, " Yes, " he said slowly, " he was impressed when we first laid eyes on it but that changed when he saw the power source."

" Did he say what it was ?"

Ian nodded, eyes closed slightly, " Yes, he called it taranium."

Romana nodded, " I should've known."

Martha looked between the Chestertons and Romana, " Why, what's taranium ?"

Romana looked grim, " I'm sorry, there's no way to remove the radiation from your bodies. Taranium is a rare mineral, and I do mean rare. It can only be found on 1 out of a million planets or moons, it's that rare. It isn't the most sought after mineral either because it's not common. It has no real application, you can't use it for alloys, you can't make it into starship fuels. But you can use it for powering time travel.

" The Time lords used a more superior power source, a black hole in a micro universe where we could gather the energy and contain the gravitational energies. But the Daleks….they used the most crudest method imaginable. Taranium is hard to find, hard to refine, hard to even use to power the sort of machine the Daleks had in mind. When the radiation's exposed to flesh it bombards low level chronitons - discreet time particles - into the genetic structure of living beings. All sorts of things change, they don't age as fast. They can be more knowledgeable than before. The possibilities are endless.

Ian looked like he was beginning to understand, " That's why the Doctor didn't want us to use it to get home."

Romana nodded agreeably, " It's more than likely. Time physics and taranium don't exactly go together, exposing time energy to taranium lets the radiation out. It makes sense the Daleks didn't research it. The Doctor would know that the taranium would have an effect on you, and he knew he couldn't do a thing about it. Taranium radiation is incurable, and the Doctor's control of the TARDIS wasn't brilliant, not since he made sure the Time lords couldn't track him. Before you ask it's complicated. "

Barbara wanted to move on from this topic anyway, and sensed that the Time lady wanted to do the same.

" What happened to Susan ?" Barbara asked, trying to steer the subject back to what it had been previously.

Romana sighed again, " I have no idea. The war was hell, people were being brought back to life over and over again, planets were on fire, time paradoxes were being created all over the place. Susan was a principal fighter, her experience as a time traveller was more use on the field than back home. We needed all the help we could get, so we did the worst thing ever."

Ian leaned forward, " What was that ?"

Romana closed her eyes, the next bit had made her regret it ever since she'd learnt the council, still sitting on chairs in front of the council table, not bothering to realise that their little world was falling apart.

She opened her eyes and looked Ian in the eyes, " We brought the Master back to life. He'd fallen into a black hole, long story, don't ask, he lost his body but not his mind. We fished it out, gave him a new body with a new lifespan since his original had dwindled. We set him to work on the field. On his first assignment, the little coward ran away and gave the Daleks a major victory."

Ian looked comprehending, " Now he's back to his old tricks, not caring about the consequences."

" Yes," Romana nodded.

Barbara looked the pair of them, " What's the Doctor doing about it ?"

Romana looked uneasy again, " The Doctor's a prisoner of the Master, there's little he can do. Besides we can't tell you what he has in mind."

" You mean he doesn't trust us."

Romana's voice became more curt, more forceful, " If the Master does go after the Doctor's former companions then he'll rape their minds. The Master's primary aim is to make the Doctor see him as superior, but it's never going to happen. If he rapes your minds, and I tell you, then say goodbye to your pathetic society and say hello to a lifetime of hell, slavery and pain. That's what's going to happen if I tell you. Why is it you pathetic humans don't see that ? First Sarah Jane Smith, now you. Next time I see another companion of the Doctor's I'm going to make it clear they don't know anything else."


	17. Chapter 17

**Assassination attempt. **

It should've been expected really. It had been inevitable.

The Master and Rose had been above the planet, decimating the Humans below, the only reasons no one had tried to assassinate them, either of them, was because of very good reasons.

Firstly, the Archangel network. The telepathic field broadcasted made everyone scared, everyone except the 99 - 98 deviancy that were immune to the effects of the field. The field kept everyone away from the Master's weapons, engines and other technologies, even the workers at these facilities didn't dare shatter even a light bulb.

Secondly, the Valiant always moved from one secret location to another, usually within a day. Only three people knew where ship would be next. The Master. The ship navigator. The pilot, even though he only did as the navigator wanted. At the last minute.

This tactic worked incredibly well. Even if someone found a ground to air missile, the Valiant wouldn't be anywhere near it.

Thirdly, the Master and Rose hardly ever left the safety of the ship, and when they did they always did it under incredibly high security, details known only to a select few. Besides the Toclafane were given standing orders from the Master in person; if the Master was to arrive anywhere, they were to bombard the area heavily for 3 days. They were to destroy everything, but not kill anything moving or breathing.

Fourth, the Toclafane themselves were probably the best army on the planet. In fact they were the only army. All the rest had been destroyed. The Toclafane were also incredibly thorough, they were given virtually free reign by the Master to do what they wanted, providing they didn't slaughter that many workers. Those that were slaughtered like animals went a long way to keeping the once complacent and squabbling masses under control under the grip of terror.

Fifth, the fear the Master and the Toclafane created. Fear, the Master knew already, was a potent weapon and one he exploited easily. The Master allowed his wife and the Toclafane to attack needlessly, wherever they wanted, providing they didn't kill too many workers.

Rose was a willing follower, she enjoyed the slaughtering, she enjoyed the screams of pain, of mercy. Rose had no problem with murdering people, in her eyes they were already dead. The only issue she had was trying to persuade the Doctor what she and his fellow Time lord was doing was right. But the Doctor wouldn't even speak at her, and when he did his voice was cold with contempt.

The Doctor was more than aware of Rose and her atrocities, but he wasn't going to try and persuade her otherwise; the Doctor despised Rose, had done for a long while, she was just making the opinion he already had of her worse, and the Doctor certainly wasn't going to make her see the error of her ways. There wasn't any point.

Rose swaggered in and saw the Doctor, head bowed, eating the same slop as the rest of the servants on the Valiant. She stopped, wished that she could get him something better, then decided against it.

The Master had assured her that eventually, eventually, the Doctor will living like a king, that the only reason the only other male Time lord was being treated like a dog was because of inadequate supplies, that sacrifices must be made.

The Master and Rose were eating well themselves, but Rose didn't see, couldn't see, that the Master had purposefully told her that that the Doctor would eventually have the same food as the Saxons, but the Master had left out the fact that he was only promising that to keep Rose where she was.

The Doctor, however, had no such problems deducing that his living conditions would be like this for a long time unless Romana and Martha succeeded with their task, he only hoped that they were living better than he was. There was only so much he could take.

The Master bounced, literally, into the room, playing Scissor's sisters, loudly. It wasn't a surprise that by now everyone had developed a severe hatred for the band. The Doctor included, all her could hear, apart from the Archangel network, was the ringing tune of the songs the Master played at volumes that almost burst the ear drums.

The only thing that kept him sane was the image of Romana, he only hoped she would reciprocate, when this was over he'd confess to her how he felt about her. If she didn't then he didn't know what he'd do.

_The engineer smirked as he removed the component, without this the conduit would overheat. _

The Master grabbed the Doctor's wheelchair which a guard had dragged him into, and the Doctor braced himself against the coming nausea. This incarnation of the Master was more crazy than any other, even the bodies he'd stolen from Tremas of Traken and Bruce the paramedic from San Francisco had had more dignity and were more closed off, but not this new one.

The Doctor felt like he was with an evil twin, the parallels between their present regenerations terrified the Doctor. He had a theory that the reason was because the Master had regenerated inside his TARDIS, the place many of his regenerations had taken place.

The wheelchair was spun, shoved, almost as if it was being driven by a train and by the end of it the Doctor's exhaustion was clear on his face.

Everyone looked at the two Time lords out of the corner of their eyes, they felt sorry for the Doctor, including Tish and Francine, two who'd doubted him. But the Doctor was too busy gasping to care. There wasn't anything anyone could do, even the guards. They only obeyed the Master out of fear and not loyalty, he'd threatened to kill their families and loved ones if they resisted him.

_The conduit was overheating. _

For Tish and Francine it was worse. They didn't know what the Doctor had sent Martha off for with the other girl, but they were delighted that another Jones was free, if you could call slavery freedom. The people down on the planet's surface were starving, battered continuously by continuous Toclafane attacks.

Tish had gone with the Doctor and Martha when Lazarus went psycho insect on them, but she hadn't really spent much time with the Time lord. She'd only met him once, so she couldn't really form an opinion of him.

Francine, on the other hand, watched as the monster who'd destroyed her world ran around wheeling the Doctor, the man she should've supported. Ever since the day the Master took over, Francine had caught the Doctor staring at her. She didn't know the man well, but the way he glanced at her….it scared her. For the first time, she saw just how alien he was. She saw an anger that could incinerate a universe in that gaze. Francine couldn't blame him, she'd betrayed her own daughter, if anyone was to blame for her predicament, it was her.

When the Master finished wheeling the Doctor around the room, he pushed the tired Time lord into the waiting arms of one of the guards.

When this happened, the Doctor caught himself wondering why the universe was so rotten to the core; he'd found two Time lords that had survived the war. Why couldn't the universe just let him have the most beautiful Time lady ? Why did the other survivor have to be someone who was so childish he threw things around the room like a kid that was too restless ?

It was times like this, his thoughts turned to Romana. That and all the dirty things he'd like to do with her.

" Time for my massage," the Master proclaimed.

The Doctor shook his head with a sigh. He pitied the poor massage women in the room, the Master made everyone onboard think of them as collaborators. The truth shall set you free, they weren't, the Master's gift for spreading discord and despair hadn't wavered at all since the days he'd left Gallifrey.

As the Master moaned loudly from his seat, he thought about how wonderful it was for the Human's morale to fall to its lowest depths. As this was happening, Francine and Tish, following routine drills started making the Master his coffee.

The Master liked routine, he was obsessed with order and routine. Anything even a second late made him furious, something quite a few slaves had found out to their peril and agony in the first few weeks. Establishing control over former political sycophants wasn't difficult, but they didn't make it easy on themselves. Many of them tried to protest, emphasis on tried, the Master had made them pay for their arrogance. Publicly, he tortured them for the best part of a week. By the time he was finished they were fully repentant. It also acted as an example to what happened to those who opposed the evil Time lord.

_The conduit was now steaming, the coolant inside was insufficient to maintain the appropriate temperature. The system was starting to short out; the conduit was now unstable. It was now going to blow…._

The conduit exploded, taking everyone by surprise. The women in the room screamed as the table, the floor, virtually the whole centre of the room blew up.

The Master was thrown across the room, but he picked himself. Those who saw his face backed away in horror. He wasn't injured, but the look on his face was beyond frightening. The Toclafane swooped into the room, but the Master was furious.

" You're orders were to maintain security for me and my base ! Where were you ?" without waiting for an answer, the Master whipped out his laser screwdriver and blasted one of the hovering spheres. The Toclafane disintegrated into fragments. The others hovered nervously, one or two even whimpering in fear.

The Master's rage knew no bounds, " What're you waiting for ?" he bellowed at the remaining Toclafane, " Find out who's just tried to kill me. Don't come back until you bring me news of who did, I don't care if you have to tear this ship apart. Find them, find them !"

The Master waited until all but one of the Toclafane remained before he swung round to face the cowering slaves.

" Don't think the coward who just tried to kill me will get away with this, and don't think I wont be easy on you. I'll make you all regret the day you were born."

The servants didn't need to worry about the Master's threats, the Toclafane, frightened by the Master's actions and rage, found the problem and tracked down the perpetrator in record time. The Master didn't care if this was the genuine article or not, it was all good to him.

The Master tortured the unfortunate man, watching as his body was torn apart. The screams were broadcast around the Valiant. For 6 days, after intense and prolonged agony, the man died.

Lining the crew up the Master made them see the results of his punishment. The Master had made clear to everyone that he; a, didn't tolerate failure from even his trusted allies, b, didn't care about anyone, not even his allies, and he was willing to kill anyone.

The man's broken corpse filled the minds of everyone, especially the next threat the Master gave; if anyone so much as sneezed into his food, he would execute 12 people and leave their bodies where they were laid.

Everyone believed him.

Martha yawned, " Lets go, I just want to sleep."

Romana nodded in agreement, " Me to, it's been a long couple of days."

The pair of them were in Italy, they'd spoken to a number of slaves working on one of the Master's latest shipyards. For over an hour the two women had spoken to the labour force, Romana had seen the dubiousness on the faces of the crowds they'd spoken to since they'd started this crusade.

She was scared that the Human race was so demoralised that they'd jump at the chance to kick the Master out of power, even at the expense of spreading, of all things, a fairy tale.

Martha felt the same fear, that all this time was for nothing, even talking about the Doctor made Martha think she was talking rubbish. The good thing was they'd met Ian and Barbara Chesterton, they could easily rely on them to spread the word.

Romana had warned Martha that the Doctors companions were spread throughout time and space, meeting just one of them, especially now would be considered fate.

They had no idea how fateful that night was going to get.

Just as they were about to leave and head for someplace to rest and to sleep, someone interrupted.

" Miss Jones ?"

The two girls turned, they found themselves facing a tall young woman, lithe, red haired. When she spoke she had a Scottish accent.

She was staring at Romana like she was a ghost.

" I knew it was you, but I couldn't believe it."

Romana stared at the girl, wondering where she'd met her. Then she realised that she'd never met this woman in all her lives.

" Do I know you ?" Romana settled for politeness, if this was one of the Masters agents she wasn't very good.

The girl smiled, " You do have a time machine. My name is Amelia Pond, Amy for short. When I was 7, the Doctor and you crashed into my garden in a blue box."

A/N - Hah, you didn't think I'd do that did you ?


	18. Chapter 18

**Fish Custard ? Eww !**

Romana looked at the redhead, " What do you mean, me and the Doctor crashed into your garden ?"

The Time lady found the image hard to believe, but it wasn't improbable; even though she loved and adored the Doctor, he could be careless, but when it came to his beloved TARDIS he was incredibly cautious. She remembered the time when she and him had been searching for the second segment of the key to Time, how he'd ignored her advice about the multi loop stabiliser. Later on he started using it. Romana believed it had something to do with avoiding another incident like a planet using TRANSMAT engines. But that was an isolated incident, hardly likely to happen again. Then again, she like other Time lords had believed there to be no other Great Vampires, and look how that turned out.

Still, she found it hard to believe he'd deliberately crash into a 7 year olds garden shed.

Amy smiled, " I had a crack in my wall, it had been bothering me for a long time. I could hear voices, " Prisoner Zero has escaped," " Silence will fall," though don't ask me what that was all about."

Romana wanted to get the girl to shut up but there was no stopping Amy, " There was this blue box that had crashed in my garden. It was all glowing, golden yellowy light. Then the doors opened, and a grapnel was thrown out. This man, with long floppy hair appeared, asking for an apple. He said he loved apples, and added as an afterthought that he maybe having a craving. He fell out and breathed out this glittery golden stuff. He said he was still cooking."

As Amy carried on with this story, how the Doctor had virtually eaten and spat out everything seven year old Amy Pond had given him, saying weird things like " new mouth, new rules," before settling to fish fingers and custard as his food.

Romana had learnt enough to realise that Amy had met a future Doctor, with her still in her present incarnation, how else could the girl recognise her ?

From how Amy described it, the regeneration the Doctor was in, the raggedy Doctor as Amy called him, had obviously been a violent one. But how ? Not many things could damage a TARDIS during a Time lord's regeneration. A TARDIS's construction was supposed to contain regeneration energy, if a Time lord who'd contained and bottled the energy for a long time regenerated outside a TARDIS's dimensional field, the resulting damage could be incredible. Yes, that must be it, the Doctor must've contained his bio energy to the point where he could still function. The pressure must've damaged the TARDIS when he went through with the regeneration. But she was still curious as to the cause. After a moment Romana gave up, partly because she didn't want to know. But Amy had done one thing.

She'd given the Time lady faith and hope.

Faith that the Master would be stopped, hope that the Doctor was alright. When this was over, she was going to snog him senseless.

" Fish custard ? Eww," Martha moaned.

Romana smirked, during regeneration some Time lords started eating and sampling weird things. The Doctor wasn't exempt from that quirk. It happened to all Time lords eventually.

She remembered something Amy had said, " Amy, you said raggedy Doctor, could you please describe for me what he was wearing ?"

It had taken Amy some time to realise that this Romana hadn't met her yet, but it still took some time to get used to that simple fact.

" He was wearing a long sleeved blue shirt, a brown tie with a light and dark blue swirl pattern, brown pinstried trousers and converse trainers." Amy grinned, not knowing she'd described the Doctor's basic present look, " Do you want me to tell you what you were wearing ?"

Romana shook her head, held one hand up and said, " No, no thank you, Amy. Call me Miss Picky, but I think I'll pass."

Amy pouted, disappointed.

* * *

When the meeting was finished, at last, Amy promised to help spread word of the Doctor around for the two women. When they left the next day, Martha had to ask about her.

" So, she's going to be a future companion then ?"

Romana heard the jealousy in Martha's voice, but she was beyond caring, " Maybe, but we need to meet her first. Clearly, I meet her in my future, especially since it's in her personal timeline."

Martha struggled to understand, and Romana took pity on her, " Basically, I'm her past, she's my future."

Martha nodded in understanding, but the Time Lady could still see her confusion. That irritated her, humans were capable of understanding, they just needed to think in 4 dimensional terms and to stop thinking things at face value.

" Alright," Romana said, realising that she needed to explain in greater detail, " If something happens in the past, then it becomes the past. I'm a fixed event in Amy Pond's timeline, me and the Doctor. Since it happens sometime in my future then I'll know what to expect. But I don't know when it will happen. Time lords have long lifespans."

" You know, I've been trying to wrap my head around time travel since I started with the Doctor. But it still drives me mad." Martha shook her head with a smile, even though she resented Romana treating her like a kid at school.

Romana could see the resentment, " I know," she admitted, " Some Time lords, especially the Doctor sometimes become confused over time and paradoxes."

* * *

Whilst Martha slept, Romana had time to think over the conversation she and Martha had had about the crash in Amy Pond's garden.

Her earlier thoughts about the reasons for the crash, the damage caused by the Doctor bottling and compressing the regeneration energy in his body, then releasing the energy through the regeneration….it put her in mind with a champagne or wine bottle, any form of beverage in a bottle. The gas inside expanded and then it simply…popped. The only problem was why the Doctor would do something so amazingly stupid.

Romana loved the Doctor, had done for centuries. The memories of how she'd hunted him and Compassion, the living TARDIS in her previous regeneration made her feel ill, she winced whenever she thought of them. Fortunately she knew that the Doctor forgave her, even though he did give her a dressing down.

Her last life had been like a dwarf star alloy box, tough, impossible to crack, believing that everything she did and would do was justified for the coming Time War.

The reality had been worse.

The enemy hadn't been Faction Paradox. It had been the Daleks, in many ways the equal and opposite to the voodoo time travel cult. The Daleks, seeing the timeline where the faction paradox had destroyed the Time lord race, and stopping them from getting revenge on all the things the Time lords had done to them over the centuries.

The Daleks had placed a temporal virus into the Faction, wiping them out, stopping them from existing in time. They also developed the technology to shove them into a timeline where everyone in the primary timeline would simply forget them.

The war was worse than anything Romana had believed, it grew so bad that everything the Time lords had fought for centuries to maintain, the laws of time, the prevention of multiple timelines….even their own, and sometimes shaky, morality.

The Time lord race had had some very questionable events in their murky history, the great vampires, the Racnoss wars, the Minyan incident…..Ravolox. The last one had made her furious when she'd seen the file, she'd disbanded a good portion of the Celestial Intervention Agency, and she'd warned the other organisations that if they did it again she'd make sure that they'd regret the day they'd become Time lords.

The Time War had made the CIA superfluous anyway, the destruction her race was causing was enough to make her feel ill now.

Then the High Council, composed of cowards and people who enjoyed ignoring the way the war was going, concerned still with personal power, unwilling to let it go, and even more unwilling to let anyone take it away, did the most moronic thing possible.

They'd brought the Master back to life. Whilst Romana was wary about using someone like the Master, who from what she'd heard was only interested in himself, she understood the reasons, and didn't, much to her shame now considering what he was doing to the Human race, do anything about it.

Bringing the Master back was far from easy, his mind was locked in the Eye of Harmony. Getting him out took a year, but cloning a body using his bio data which had been recovered from the time he'd returned to Gallifrey during the Borusa incident was child's play. The Master even had a new regeneration cycle, for which he was eternally grateful, especially since he'd stolen 2 bodies just to stay alive. It was a ghoulish existence, one no one should ever have. The Master was brutally efficient when he needed to be, and the High council, realising that they had a perfect weapon, set him to work on the frontline.

It was lucky the Master didn't encounter the Doctor, the enmity between the two Time lords was legendary and Romana had been concerned that if the Two met on the battlefield then the war would become worse.

Romana had had other concerns about using the Master, fears that the High council hadn't thought the whole thing out properly. Those fears had been justified when the cruciform fell and the Master vanished without a trace. Romana had lashed out against the council, but they were unrepentant.

It wasn't until 3 more years had passed before they unveiled the project that they'd dreamt up.

Rassilon's return.

When they did, Romana couldn't believe it. Rassilon, the founder of the Time lords, one of the greatest Time lords in History. It finally made sense, about why the council had resurrected the Master, why they hadn't been especially bothered by him running away.

They'd done it as a trial to bring back something bigger. Rassilon's bio data was easy to obtain, as was his mind, they'd just wanted to make sure they had the technique right.

The council, with Rassilon's full backing, deposed her, Romana had stepped down, knowing the other Time lords would simply tell her that they would win if Romana left agreeably, and she did, but not without resentment. But Rassilon made her a general on the frontline since she spent most of her time away from Gallifrey anyway, her time with the Doctor and the war making her the perfect general, especially since being in the council chamber made her feel bored.

Under Rassilon's leadership, the Time lords, for a time, managed to hold the Daleks back, something they'd never been able to fully do when she'd been president.

But then the Daleks mastered solar manipulation, and destroyed a massive number of Solar systems deep within Time lord held space. The Dalek armies moved in during the confusion, and drove the Time lords back, using their new temporal weapons to wipe out millions. They'd also dredged back in history, and removed the Cloud, the Could have been King with his army of meanwhiles and neverweres. The Cloud, a massive, malignant entity which devoured whole suns and planets, had been a problem for the ancient Time lords because none of their weapons or abilities could touch it. The Daleks knew that after they raided the Matrix, saw it as the perfect weapon and simply lifted it out of its time and placed it in the middle of the war.

The cloud was intelligent, the Daleks knew that, and simply told it that the they'd brought it there to allow it to get revenge on the Time lords. The Daleks told the Cloud that the Time lords had virtually forgotten it, that they needed to be reminded of its great power.

The Cloud consumed planets, breaking them up and consuming all life and energy, even transforming the debris into great amounts of fuel.

The Time lords, with the Doctor and Rassilon's help, managed to shove it into a Time loop, but why they'd never been able to do that was beyond Romana, but the damage the Cloud had done was beyond serious, the Daleks had placed the Cloud in 5 different Timelines, and the Time lords had needed to collapse them all.

Rassilon, realising that the timeline problems were causing the war to become serious, and fearing that the Daleks were creating a possible timeline where they'd win, ordered the walls of reality sealed off.

This plan was met with approval from everyone, who hoped that the walls would be reopened and repaired when the war would be over.

It worked to say the least, the timelines were collapsed. But that wasn't the end of it.

After the fall of Arcadia, the war changed, the loss of a great planet and ally of the Time lords made the Time lords see that this wasn't a small conflict, which many did for reasons Romana couldn't wrap her head around. The war escalated with millions dying and being resurrected by time itself.

Things back home, Romana shuddered at the memories, were getting was bad to seriously worse, bordering on nightmarish. Rassilon had starting revealing his true colours, that of a tyrannical dictator, but it was too late to depose him. All of his opponents were crushed like petrified twigs under his boots. To make matters worse, the renegades were starting to talk. As someone who'd been travelling with a renegade in the past, Romana knew how they spoke. What they said terrified her. Since Romana understood the renegade mind, knew what had been needed to bring them to fight in the war, they thought of her as one of them. Many Time lords questioned the wisdom of having the renegades fight in the war but some of the more liberal minded and logical Time lords accepted the wisdom of her decision; the renegades such as Drax and the Rani had skills needed to fight the war, skills other Time lords couldn't grasp. The things you learnt on the run blew the mind.

The renegade did good work, beyond great actually. But Rassilon ignored them, left them alone to their own devices. So when some of them vanished under mysterious circumstances the warning bells started ringing. The renegades knew how devious and dangerous their own people could be, knew that Rassilon didn't trust them. They went to Romana, asking her for a meeting on a planet.

They chose Earth. It was safely out of the way of the Time War, and they discussed it in a café. It took her an hour to get the whole thing in her head. Rani and Drax, along with 6 others told her about some unusual activity in the council, that they'd noticed. If it had been any other Time lord then they'd simply have never noticed it, but they knew Romana had been close to one, and had developed the ears of a renegade. One of them was an old friend, one she'd never envisioned as a renegade. Flavia, formerly Councillor Flavia of the High council.

She remembered the meeting….

_Earth was still the same beautiful world it had been when she'd first visited in her first life, the peace, the lack of awareness of the Time war soothed and relaxed Romana tremendously. As a leader of a now war torn race, she like many had become paranoid, cautious and ready to fight at the drop of a hat. _

_The meeting took place in a café, a place called Nero's, it was a massive __place, and was perfect. But Romana kept her eyes and ears open and alert, there may be Dalek agents, duplicates and Robomen here. If the Daleks caught wind of Time lords meeting on this planet, Earth could find itself dragged into the Time war. _

_Romana shuddered at the thought of the Doctor hearing that Romana was partially responsible for the destruction of his favourite planet. They'd made progress in patching up their friendship, but that could change. _

_She spotted Drax first, cheerful, carefree Drax, he was speaking to the Time lady she knew as the Rani. _

" _She'll be 'ere soon, don't worry Rani, 'eh, Worry, Rani, eh that rhymes." Drax laughed. _

_The Rani shot him a look of pure poison, " If you don't shut up Drax, I'll feed you to a cat that's 1,000 ft tall."_

_Drax shut up, some of the renegades shook their heads at his antics. Romana did too._

_Flavia spoke up, the other renegades were still wary of her. It didn't surprise Romana as she was as surprised as they were that Flavia, someone who'd followed the rules more than her, would become a renegade. The story was Flavia had regenerated into a body that saw the Time lords as corrupt and couldn't see any way of changing them. So she left them and started travelling the cosmos. She got that idea from their mutual friend. Nearby was a Time lord she'd heard of but never met. The Corsair. He was a giant of a Time lord, he was a renegade who left Gallifrey for the same reasons as the Doctor, but he did things differently. The Corsair's reputation made him sound like his namesake, he was a dashing man, his appearance put Romana in mind of a pirate of the 17__th__ century, but he looked like a businessman with his immaculate suit, it contrasted to his beard which was in the style of 17__th__ century noblemen. _

" _She'll be here soon, Romana is punctual. Oh, here she is now." Flavia said looking up. _

_Romana smiled as she came over. Between these people and the council, she knew which she preferred, these people were her brethren, the council were a bunch of old people who squabbled amongst themselves. These people were more like friends looking for a good time. It was curious, before she travelled with the Doctor, she'd looked down her nose at the renegades, but when she started travelling with one, she felt more like one. Maybe she really was a rebel at heart. _

_Romana sat down and looked at them. Drax, Flavia, Rani, Corsair, The Queen, another female renegade, Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter, Pandora, a relatively young Time lady renegade, but still she'd been travelling 345 years before the war, and finally Chronotis, also known as Salyavin, someone Romana hadn't expected to see, but she shouldn't have been that surprised, especially when you took into account what he was capable of. _

_A notorious adventurer, Salyavin's mind control powers, matching Susan's own powers had made him a feared criminal. But it was due to the prejudices of stupid Time lords, who were jealous of Salyavin's powers and control. _

_Romana and the Doctor had met him in Cambridge, where he'd retired as a professor. Skagra used his sphere to learn the location of Shada, the Time lord prison Salyavin had been imprisoned in but escaped secretly. With their help, Salyavin was able to defeat Skagra, and in return the Doctor swore never to reveal Salyavin's secret. _

_The Time lords had been prepared to imprison the old Time lord, who was already nearing the end of his life after using all his regenerations up, but his experience and knowledge was a tremendous help. He wasn't on the frontlines, his body was failing him and he couldn't physically move very fast, but his mind was as sharp as a razor. It was the same of the Rani and the Corsair, their knowledge was formidable. Drax was an engineer, who hid his true intellect under a persona that made him out to be a fool. _

_Susan and Pandora were hardly slackers either, but out of the two of them Romana knew which one was probably the fountain of knowledge. Susan had been travelling the cosmos for years, Pandora was still new to it. But Pandora had modified her TARDIS to fire a wave of pure artron energy, capable of shredding the Daleks apart. The weapon had been installed on many TARDISes and it won many battles. _

_The Queen was someone who marginally older and more experienced, but Romana didn't know much about her, but she definitely knew Flavia. Flavia was someone Romana would never believe was a renegade at heart, she never went to the undercity of the citadel to get drunk with the shobogans, never got into fights and never pulled any pranks. _

_But it was good to have her here, it offered a bit more realism to the meeting. If her old friend was here then the situation must be genuine, but she knew the renegades wouldn't have called this meeting if the situation wasn't serious. _

_The Corsair was the first to speak, with a gallant smile, he stood up and offered her a chair and even pulled it out for her. The others held back their smirks. This was another side of the Corsair, a womanising Time lord. _

" _There, my lady." he said with a warm smile. " Can I get you anything ?"_

_Romana tried not to blush at the attention, " Some coffee please," she gave the order and the Corsair walked off to get it. _

_The former president looked at the others, " Why are we here ?" she asked getting down to business. _

_But Rani wouldn't let them start, " Wait until Casanova returns. He's the one who first heard what we're going to tell you."_

_The others nodded seriously, including the usually excitable Drax. The Queen placed something on the table, shutting out the sounds from the rest of the café. When the Corsair returned, they started. Flavia asked her a question that plunged them into business. _

" _Romana," she said leaning forward over the table, " have you noticed anything from the council ? Any rumours, anything ?"_

_Romana frowned, " No, but then I haven't spent much time back home. I've been on the frontline for the past few years. I can't stand the political intrigue back home," she admitted, knowing the Flavia would understand. _

_Flavia nodded, knowing only too well what Romana was saying, " I know, but the Corsair heard something that he told the rest of us. For the past few years, he's been acting as a…liaison, for lack of a better word, with the High council."_

_She was interrupted by a snort from the Time lord, who looked considerably unhappy, his arms folded, showing his famous circular tattoo. _

" _More like, __**stand there and listen to your superiors and follow our orders**__, at least that's how they treat me. They don't treat me like a Time lord, they treat me like we treat people like the humans in this café," he said, looking around. _

_Romana's frown grew deeper, " How do you mean ?" _

_The Corsair sighed, " I was asked to advise Rassilon on the war. When he returned to power, the council asked me, as a renegade," he sneered, " to act as an advisor. He's got hundreds, telling him what to do and what not to do. As a result, the war has been going terribly, because Rassilon isn't listening to those with common sense in their brains. He's listening instead to feeble minded fools who don't see the extent of the war. "_

_The Corsair fell silent, gathering his thoughts, " Rassilon is starting to become…I don't know, secretive, like he's got a plan in his head, and judging from the glint in his eyes it isn't good. On top of that, he's sent me on missions to the frontline, escorted by a member of the guard."_

" _How did you get away ?" _

" _Rassilon only sends him on missions with me, aside from that I'm left alone. He's deliberately keeping me away from the meetings." the Corsair said, " That's what worries me, on top of that we're losing this war. Whether you like it or not Romana, we're losing this war."_

_The words __**we're losing this war **__sent shockwaves through her mind. Romana knew the war wasn't going well for the Time lords at this stage, but she'd never expected to hear something like this, especially from someone like the Corsair. _

_Romana looked around the grim faces, and saw the others. Their faces said it all, they agreed with the Corsair. Romana looked curiously at them, " Why isn't the Doctor here ? If it concerns us all-"_

_Susan looked a little sad, as did the others. The Doctor was one of the most notorious of the renegades, but he couldn't get away. _

" _He's on the frontlines, unable to get away. The Daleks always fight harder whenever he's on the frontline. You know," she mimicked a Daleks's voice, " The Doc-tor is the grea- test en-emy of the Dal-eks ! He must be found and Ex-ter-min-ated !" the others nodded, even though Rani scolded her granddaughter for the impersonation._

_Flavia now took it up, " When I went to Gallifrey to brief the Council for the push on the 5__th__ front, I heard a few of the council members taking, ever since Rassilon came back they're easier to spot in their new Prydonian robes of red and gold. They spoke of a plan, the Ultimate Sanction. They spoke about it like it was the key to winning the war and defeating the Daleks once and for all."_

_Romana didn't see the problem, " Maybe its not so bad. If it ends the war…." she tried to be optimistic, but if the most notorious renegades of her people had brought her all this way, then the situation was serious and wasn't to be brushed aside._

" _Then why is there talk about connecting the Eye of Harmony and the Untempered Schism ?" Susan asked. _

" _What ?" _

_The Rani explained, " The Eye of Harmony has been in much demand recently, that and the Untempered Schism, along with a few other devices, each connected to the vortex. The Time lords are up to something, something tremendous."_

_The Queen spoke up at that point, " Rassilon ordered a massive taskforce to retake the Cruciform, I was the general in command. He told me, personally, that the cruciform was necessary for winning the war. It bordered on a threat, really. The man's body language scared me."_

_Romana hadn't heard about this, " Did you succeed ?"_

_The Queen looked ill, " We did. After 4 months work. Whatever the Master," she spat the name angrily, " did to let the Daleks get their plungers on the damn thing, they weren't going to let it go. Not without a fight. I lost a good number of soldiers in the battle. By the end of it, we'd wiped the Daleks out and retaken the cruciform. But there was a problem. It blew up, taking with it a good portion of my attack force. Rassilon was furious."_

_Romana frowned, " Why would he want the Cruciform ?"_

_Pandora shook her head, " Aside from the fact it's connected to the time vortex, and acted as a source of life in the cosmos, who knows ? I heard this from a few council members as well. They believe Rassilon's plan will succeed, that the vortex will help them but I don't see how."_

" _How can the vortex help them ?" Romana asked. _

_Salyavin, who'd been silent up till now, spoke up, his voice thin and reedy but very strong, " I think they intend to do something drastic, something not seen since Omega destroyed Qqba, the star used to harness time itself."_

_The others stared at him, " What makes you say that ?" Flavia asked. _

_Salyavin shrugged, " The scale of what Rassilon's doing. Why would the Time lord responsible for helping our race to our place in the cosmos wish to meddle with the forces by which our dominion over time and space stems from ? It's wrong."_

_Drax frowned, then said, " The Eye of Harmony connected to the cruciform and the Untempered schism….not a good combination."_

_Romana frowned, " What do you mean ?"_

_Drax closed his eyes, Romana had the impression he was trying various ideas and discarding them, but he spoke. _

" _There are a few possibilities. A, Rassilon intends to use the combination to blast the Daleks into a timeline that he can create. After sealing off the walls of reality this would be difficult, but not impossible. B, he intends to launch a temporal weapon at Skaro before life evolved, wiping the Daleks out. C, and this is the one you wont like. He doesn't intend to use either the Schism or the Eye, their just pieces of an engine for something bigger and far worse. Before you ask," he added tersely, " I dunno what it is, so don't even ask."_

_Salyavin nodded and pointed at Drax, " Boy's got the idea, well done." _

_Drax didn't look like he was complimented. _

_Susan piped up, and Romana had to smile at this bubbly girl, " You have to tell my grandfather. He needs to know what we've learnt. Our fate, and the fate of everyone depends on it."_

_The others nodded. _

Romana had told the Doctor, when they'd met during a briefing to decide the next best strategy for the war. The Doctor had looked haggard, like he'd aged more than his physical body, Romana recalled.

He hadn't been surprised. He'd told her that bringing Rassilon back would bring with it consequences. Not all of them good.

How right he'd been. Romana had told him about the meeting, what Drax and Salyavin had told her


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry but I loved the meeting, I enjoyed writing it. So I've decided to continue it and write a longer chapter. **

The Meeting. Part two.

Romana thought about the rest of the spine chilling meeting, remembering the rest. What she'd heard would shake the foundations of her being, the part where she would discover where her people were evil.

_Romana looked at the renegades, or rather her friends, with something like _s_cepticism. _

" _How can Rassilon be doing this, and why now ? Why not 3 years ago ? Or when the Daleks took over the cruciform ? Where's your proof ?"_

_The other Time lords and ladies looked at her, some without emotion, others with looks that told Romana that they had no proof, that what they thought they knew was purely instinctive. That made sense, the renegade Time lord developed all kinds of instincts when they were on the move._

_The Rani looked the former president in the eyes, " Use your brain, Romana. If Rassilon had truly wanted to end the Time war, he could have. Easily. He won, single handed, the attack on Gallifrey eight months ago. If he'd truly wanted to end this, he would." _

_Romana shuddered at the memory of the Dalek battle fleets that had attacked Gallifrey, they'd destroyed and ravaged a good portion of the ancient planet. The damage they'd done to the citadel, the glass dome of the city itself, that had held the Time lords contained for 10 million years, had been shattered in dozens of places. Half the city was in ruins, untold damage, countless lives lost. _

_Rassilon had managed to repel them, using the legendary weapons of old. But Rani had a point, Romana had to concede, if the founder of the Time lords had intended for them to win and survive, surely he'd be doing something about the Daleks and the other horrors in the war, not sitting back home. _

" _I don't want to believe it. I don't want to believe that Rassilon was planning something that could wipe the Time lords out as well as the Daleks -"_

" _Why would Rassilon, one of the greatest figures in our long history wanna destroy a race, a set of philosophies, a whole way of life, when he'd worked 'ard to make it ?" Drax interrupted, pointing out the flaw in her logic. Romana thought that Drax had a point when she thought hard about it. _

_Salyavin nodded when she started to understand, " The plan Rassilon is working on is something colossal, but he must be sure about the result. Otherwise there'd be no point in doing it." _

_The Corsair closed his eyes, " Yes, but I don't see how damaging the Time Vortex would be of any use. The Daleks may be ruthless, but even so they'd think twice about causing massive damage to the vortex."_

" _They didn't do that when they tore the vortex apart around Merilos 3," The Queen pointed out. The Time lords shuddered as they recalled how the Daleks had slaughtered an entire race that had been working on space-time travel, even rivalling the power of the Time lords themselves. _

_The Merilons could've become great allies, or great enemies which was why they'd been wiped out. The Daleks, instead of sterilising the planet had instead used the vortex, that way they simply erased them from history. Only time active and time aware species would even be able to tell the difference. _

_The damage had been so extensive that the Time lords couldn't repair the damage, the Vortex was badly shattered around the solar system of Merilos. _

_Pandora closed her eyes. It was common knowledge that the Time lady had been trying to protect them, but the Daleks had badly crippled the TARDIS she'd been using. It had drifted for days, vulnerable. As a rule none of the renegades used their own TARDIS, to them their TARDISes were lifelines, sacred, and not meant to be touched regardless of what the High Council thought. To them the renegades and their TARDISes were foreigners, strangers. _

_Even now, they'd used their borrowed TARDISes instead of the ones they'd been using for a while. _

_Pandora didn't say a word, she didn't need too. Her sadness said it all. _

_The Corsair broke the silence, " When are you due back on Gallifrey Romana ?"_

_Romana shook herself out of the reverie she was trapped in, " Another 4 days." _

_The Rani interrupted brusquely, " When you get there, keep your eyes open and listen to the council members, they are far from discreet. We must know. The other renegades need to know."_

" _Speaking of which," Romana said at that point, realising something, " Where are the others ?"_

_The Time lords had for centuries had millions of renegades, people who'd grown bored of the Time lords, the endless sense of duty, the pointless ceremonies dragged by year upon weary year. Romana knew that these people were among their elite, they had their own community, but it was more relaxed. Romana remembered meeting the Corsair, getting drunk and so on. _

_But there'd been hundreds of them. _

_Flavia sighed, " Unfortunately, Rassilon doesn't trust us, especially me since I was once a member of the council. I think he looks down on us because we left Gallifrey. He doesn't trust the Doctor, he's been sending him away from Gallifrey. The Doctor hasn't been back home for years."_

_Salyavin nodded, " He knows that all the renegades, banded together, would be a considerable threat to him. The same can be said of the other Time lords. Even Rassilon, with all his abilities cannot stand against that, which is the last thing the Time lords need, especially with the Daleks closing in on us. We need proof. Which is why we need proof. The Corsair is due back home the day after tomorrow, then you can both get that proof. All the other renegades," he spat out the word, it sounded weird in his reedy voice, " have more or less noticed the way Rassilon is."_

_Drax leant forward, " I'm going on a mission, Compassion is taking me and a few others to the Monan Host, they lost some good people to the Daleks. The Council want us to try and get them on board."_

_Romana winced at the memories, wincing even harder when she heard the name Compassion. The living TARDIS had forgiven her for her actions in the past, but Romana knew that Compassion still felt cautious about her. The council had bred many TARDISes from Compassion, much to the Doctors unease, but Compassion was her own person, she made her own decisions. _

_The council had used the sentient TARDISes like they were beasts of burden, only to discover they were more problematic to control, but once they realised they were dealing with intelligent people the council had decided to have as little as possible to do with them._

" _I think they'll listen, their technology is more or less on par with ours. Compassion could help a lot, but I don't see how. Living TARDISes of her model aren't allowed in the council chambers." Romana pointed out. _

" _Let me worry about that." Drax said grimly. " Just like I worry about the defence computer I made for Gallifrey. It was almost blown sky high by the last Dalek raid."_

_Susan looked at him, " How bad was it ?"_

" _Nothing that a good maintenance can't fix, but the council don't get the problem. They don't see the urgency. They don't care about the war." Drax moaned. The others looked at him sympathetically, even the Rani, they knew he was telling the truth about their leaders, their lack of action. _

_Pandora then jumped back in, " Tell her about the accidents." _

_Romana was startled by the words, almost as much as the others, " What accidents ?"_

_The Queen answered the question partially, " You know about the Infinite and the Eternal ?" Romana nodded, they were two renegade Time lord twins, a rarity in itself on Gallifrey, but they'd left home more or less for the same reasoning as the other renegades. They shared everything, the same TARDIS, everything. _

" _A year ago they vanished on Gallifrey, and no one, not even their family, know where they are. Even their TARDIS has vanished. But it hasn't left Gallifrey, their imprint is still there."_

_Romana pointed out something there, " They may have taken another one."_

_Salyavin shook his head, " You clearly don't know them that well," he wheezed, " They couldn't have left Gallifrey because their TARDIS is fine tuned to them. No other TARDIS matrix could take them."_

" _Then…what's happened to them ?"_

_The Rani interjected, " Its not just them, the Borrower, Ella, Draco, the Knight, the Mage, they've all disappeared. No body knows."_

_Susan leant forward, insisting, " Something terrible has happened to them ?"_

_Romana shook her head, not wanting to think about the possibilities that were rushing through her mind. It was unthinkable, they were at war. They didn't have time for this. _

" _We don't know that," she insisted. _

_Susan's voice rose to become a shout, fortunately the silencer was still working, " Then why is there no investigation on Gallifrey ? Why aren't the Council doing anything ?"_

_Pandora tapped Susan's shoulder, " She does have a point. The Council are digging their heels on this, they refuse to investigate it, or even let us do it for them. Spandrell is helping, slightly. Like us, he doesn't like what's happening. But his hands are tied. There's nothing he can do." _

_Romana was still stubborn, " That still doesn't mean they're killing off the renegades." she argued. _

_The Rani sneered, " You've travelled with a renegade for, what was it ? 200 years, and it never occurred to you that being on the other side of the fence made the Doctor see the way the High Council sees the rest of us. They've spread propaganda about us for centuries, saying we're diseased, we're monsters. All that."_

_Romana couldn't refute that. It was true. Back in her first life, her first brush with the Doctor came when the Lord President was retiring. When he was assassinated, there was massive outcry of hatred towards all renegades. One of Romana's own classmates had said, " They should all be rounded up, and vapourised." _

_When the tremors and subsidence came all over the city, Cardinal Borusa had said that it was all due to an outbreak of giant mice. But the rumour was the Doctor had unearthed a terrifying plot where Goth, the presidents own chancellor, had plotted his assassination with the Master. The Master had betrayed him, killed him. The Master had set up a doomsday plan where he would regenerate himself after exhausting his own regeneration cycle. But the Doctor had stopped him. _

_After that, Borusa had tried to clean up the mess, but Spandrell and Engin had believed the rest of their people deserved the right to know. After that the Doctor became a legend. But the disdain for the renegades was still there. _

_Romana knew that even if the Time lords and the renegades - the sad part was that the Time lords didn't believe the renegades were their own race - worked together, then when the war was over the old hatred wouldn't vanish. It was sad, but it was there. _

_Romana nodded, " Ok, I'll go home. I'll try and reach the Doctor and investigate what's going on." _

_They all nodded, " Be careful Romana, you know Rassilon is dangerous. He's already caused a lot of damage to the Daleks, and to Gallifrey. Be careful." Flavia got up, hugging her friend. They didn't know it yet, but this was the last time they would see each other. _

Romana shivered in the cold night. She shouldn't have ignored their warnings, made excuses. They'd been right. The Time lords had been working on a vicious plan, and the renegades were being killed for security reasons, the foolish Council members believed that by killing the renegades then they would be able to hide their plan, and stop arousing suspicion. In fact it had the opposite effect, the renegades, being attracted to the disappearances of their fellows, had alerted her, and put Rassilon's plan into operation.

Romana hugged her knees close to their chest, her double pulse vibrating in her chest with her hearts. The Time lady closed her eyes, the horror of the final days of the war came unbidden into her mind. Romana hadn't been exaggerating when she told the Doctor Rassilon had been an animal when he'd found out about her alerting the Doctor. Rassilon was afraid of the Doctor, because the Doctor was someone who thought constantly about various ways of dealing with a problem, the last thing the Founder of the Time lords had wanted was to alert the Doctor of his plans.

Romana had investigated, using her old contacts to help her, and what she'd found terrified her. Rassilon had found out what she was doing, and summoned her.

_Flashback. _

_Romana walked through the citadel corridors, her head held high as her silken robes rustled as she walked with her escort to the President's office. While Romana's face was impassive, Time lady impassive, her inner emotions were terrified, nervous and very, very worried. Why would Rassilon summon her ? Did he know about the meeting he'd had with the renegades ? If so, then she was in trouble. _

_When the guards brought her to the room, one of them pressed the wall buzzer. A voice, imposing, called out, " Come."_

_The guards walked with Romana into the massive room. The room had undergone many changes since she'd been here, in this room. Instead of a room decorated with pictures of planets, souvenirs from those planets and plants, this room was coppery bronze, the exact same colour tone as the Daleks new travel machines. The colour scheme made Romana shudder. Everything was Spartan, impersonal. _

_Rassilon stood up, imposing, proud. Romana gulped as she saw the glint described to her by the Corsair. It wasn't a benevolent gleam, it was the gleam of a fanatic. _

" _Leave us," He ordered of the guards. Both guards, fully ingrained with the protocol of the Time lords, and the word of Rassilon, obeyed without question. _

_Rassilon came close to Romana, his breathing almost heavy. Then without warning, he slapped her hard. With a cry, Romana fell to the ground. _

" _Did you really think I didn't know about that meeting you had with those rejects, those shobogans ?" Rassilon's face was stony, his voice a gritty rasp. He bent down and gripped Romana by her throat, " They were right, their fellows were being executed, by me."_

" _Why ?" Romana choked out. _

_Rassilon smiled evilly, " Because they now longer belong here, on the planet, and in the society I designed. I created the Time lords. I know what is best for them, I am the supreme commander. For centuries, I was locked in the matrix, always looking into the minds of the Time lords. When the Doctor, and his ilk were created, I was furious. They tarnished the vision I'd had for the Time lord race."_

_Romana gasped, Rassilon was incredibly strong and every time he raised his voice his grip would increase and choke her. Speaking was painful, but she had to try and get through to him. _

" _But that doesn't mean you have to kill them," she protested. _

" _Yes it does !" Rassilon shouted in fury. " They're behind this war, if the Doctor," here he spat out his name, " had done his job properly, like a Time lord, then the Daleks and our people wouldn't be fighting this war."_

_Ok, no one attacks the man I love, Romana thought with white hot rage, " The Doctor couldn't do it, he couldn't bring himself to wipe out an entire race. Yes, I hate the Daleks, and so does he. I can imagine that he wishes he could go back and change his own personal history. But he wont - urk." she gasped when Rassilon let her go and exposed her to Zed neutrino energy from his glove. _

_Pain tore through Romana's body, but luckily, she knew that he wasn't inducing her body's natural regenerative abilities. _

_A month, that was how long she'd been tortured by the monster that had taken her place as president of the Time lords. In that time she'd learnt the reasons for the renegades fear. Rassilon was planning to create a rupture in the space time vortex, the heart and source of the Time lords power. It was suicide. Rassilon had an insane plan to make the Time lords ascend to a new level of consciousness alone. It was ludicrous. Romana's eyes watered, her people had become monsters. She prayed that the Doctor saved them, defeated the Daleks and the evil Time lords, but she imagined that this was too much for even him._

_Romana kept herself sane by picturing a life with the Doctor, travelling through the cosmos, avoiding the Time lords and, basically, falling in love. _

_But she knew it wouldn't happen, not if she remained here. The cell she was in was tiny, it didn't even have a bunk or a rug for her to sleep on. Besides, her body was in constant pain. Rassilon had turned her into his personal punching bag, exposing her to time wind energy, beating her senseless, subjecting her to mild cosmic rays. _

_It was lucky she hadn't regenerated, but then again Rassilon had invented the concept of regeneration, he knew that if she did regenerate then she would be stronger. _

_Romana was dozing off when she heard a commotion. Shouts from outside disturbed her. What in Omega's name was that ? The door opened and a guard staggered in, when he fell the injured Time lady saw that he had a Janus thorn in his back. Romana shook her head when an old friend came in. _

_Leela smirked when she saw Romana, that changed to a look of horror, " Romana, you look terrible." _

_Romana shook her head again, ignoring just the agony she felt, " I guessed, what's happening ?"_

" _The Daleks. Their attacking Gallifrey, this time for real. All of them are coming here." Leela said in horror. _

" _All of them ?" Romana gasped. The Daleks had always fought in legions, regiments. Army upon army. In effect their entire race was an army. The idea, the scale of the coming attack, ghastly. _

" _Yes, we have to take you away," Leela said, grabbing her hand and leading her away. As they got into the corridors they saw the Time lords milling about, all of them panicking. Romana sneered at them, these were her people ? Witless cowards who buried their heads in the ground, something they'd been doing since the war broke out. They were fools._

_Leela was leading her to the TARDIS bays. Romana was glad of that, her body was shutting down on her, it didn't have much time left. Leela glanced around her, and spotted trouble. " Quick !" she shouted. Romana gasped in agony as they ran from Rassilon's guards, her body was shutting down and every movement was agony. _

_Romana gasped when she saw Rassilon himself, he overtook the Time lord guards, his generation wasn't as unfit as the present one. _

_Leela got her to the landing bay, and Romana found that the guards were too close for comfort. She was about to get inside a TARDIS and call for Leela, when a number of force fields came down and blocked off her escape. _

" _Hurry !" Leela shouted, her staser firing bolts. Her face showing how much she was enjoying this. Romana shuddered. _

_Romana's eyes roamed around the room, looking for some kind of inspiration. She found it when she saw the Time rings. She tentatively reached for one, bracing herself for the shock of the defensive field around them. Romana was surprised when she touched one. She reached out for it, taking it from its slot and placed it on her wrist. Focusing her imprimature signature on the ring, she started to program it. _

_Romana turned around to get Leela when she saw her drop to the ground with a thump. Rassilon, with his guards, entered the bay. Romana stood very still. _

_Rassilon looked at the body of the Human woman, " A lower life form, she shouldn't have been here."_

" _That's what makes Humans special," Romana spat, her hatred for the man and her insular race making her angry. _

" _They're brilliant, they are brave, unlike those cowards who run around outside, they don't hide from a war. They actually fight it. Where were you on the battlefield ?" Romana sneered, mentally activating the ring. _

_A guard whipped out his staser, hoping for praise from Rassilon. The bolt hit her in the temporal field, which amplified her agony. Romana dropped to the ground, she knew it was too much. As she left, she felt the planet tremble and hear Rassilon kill the guard, and curse the Doctor. Romana smirked, so the Doctor had taken her advice and gained the Moment. She didn't blame him for what he was about to do, in fact, her hearts sang to him. The Artron backwash from the Eye of Harmony spilled into the dematerialisation field of the Time ring. _

…_.she found herself on a planet, with a junk yard that looked like it stretched for miles in each and every direction. _

_Romana was unable to move, her body was too exhausted to move an inch. Then she saw it, her hands glowing with energy. Using the energy to help her up, Romana staggered up, pain shooting throughout her body. The regeneration energy was burning throughout her body, and building up and up. _

_Bracing herself, Romana's thoughts turned to the Doctor, had he survived the war ? Was he travelling in the TARDIS ? Did he feel sick ? Had he regenerated from the backlash like she was about to ?_

_If he had, then she would see him again. She would claim her man. I'll build a time machine to take me away, Romana thought as she let the energy burn throughout her body. The Time lady's last thoughts were of her man….._

_Romana 3 died, and Romana 4 came into being. _

Romana swallowed, and gazed down at sleeping Martha. She didn't deserve this, this nightmare. The Master was a throwback, he didn't belong here. The people of the Earth shouldn't be enslaved by the psychotic Time lord whose callousness reminded her of Rassilon. The Doctor shouldn't be suffering because of the council's thought the Master would help them.

_I wont let it happen_, Romana thought, as her mind wandered over the plan the Master had come up with. The New Time lord Empire. Her temper had almost exploded, and now she was grieving the loss of the countless people who'd been murdered by the Master's soldiers. Romana gazed into the fire.

_I wont let the Master succeed, I'll die if I have to, _she thought angrily. The image of the Master's smirking face came unbidden into her mind. She glared at it, almost as if it was right in front of her.

_And I'll make you pay for what you've done to the Doctor, you son of a bitch ! No one does that to my man !_


	20. Chapter 20 Rose is disciplined

**Rose is Disciplined. **

Physical abuse didn't have the same touch as verbal and mental abuse. At least, that was what the Master believed. While he was willing to inflict serious injuries on people, he didn't do it without reason, even now he was in this new, and slightly crazier than normal incarnation, regeneration, but he believed regenerating in the Doctor's clapped out old TARDIS may've had something to do with it, in this new incarnation, he didn't lash out without good cause.

Unfortunately, his wife didn't follow that philosophy.

The Master was waiting outside the medical bay for the report on the unfortunate maid who angered Rose for no apparent reason. The Master had been under considerable strain recently. It had been 6 months since his takeover, and the building of the factories for producing the vortex manipulator engines, the black hole converters, the meson disintegrators were already producing their stock. The launch pads for the rockets were also nearing completion. The Master had been spending more and more time visiting each and every site around the world, checking on the progress of the building, and making sure the Humans were working on his schedule. He'd held back the order to slaughter more humans, the loss of workers at this stage was more a hindrance than a help, especially if he wanted to keep his deadline for the launch.

The Toclafane had been hovering on a knife edge, since the attempt to assassinate him had failed they had been more diligent, hell they were now taking over security of the Valiant like never before. The Master suspected, even though he didn't care, that they were frightened he'd lash out again. If that kept them from making another mistake, then that was okay with him.

The Master was drawn from his thoughts by the doctor that came out. The medic removed his gear, " I've checked her over, she's fine and will be working again soon."

The Master nodded, " I see, what happened ? I didn't get the full story."

The medic closed his eyes and sighed, " To be honest, I don't know either. But I did hear that the girl made a noise behind your wife whilst she was putting on her makeup. Your wife assaulted her. Luckily, a guard stopped her and called us in."

The Master nodded, assimilating the information. He wouldn't discipline the maid, it wouldn't have any purpose. But he would certainly see to Rose.

" Keep her in for as long as you need." The Master ordered.

The medic admitted to him, " I was going to keep her in all night, actually. Your wife caused a significant head injury."

" Is it serious ?"

" Not presently, but she needs rest and sleep. Besides, when she's working again, she'll need to wear a bandage." the medic replied. He privately thought the Master shouldn't play loud music, and he decided against giving the Master such advice. Even if the evil despot was in a more calm mood, the doctor was aware the Master had a nasty temper.

The Master was, fortunately for the medic, thinking of something else. " Where is my wife ?"

" In your quarters."

The Master nodded, and walked away, gesturing to his bodyguards to fall in behind him. Even though the assassination attempt on his life sometime ago, the Master was still paranoid enough to realise that he should keep the soldiers on hand. They were a symbol that the Master, and the Master alone, was in complete control, and there was nothing they could do about it. As he walked through the corridors of his base, he was going over the things he needed to do. One of them was to make Rose understand that he was far too busy to play her games, and that from now on, he was going to keep her on a leash.

When the party reached the Master's quarters, the Master could hear Rose shouting and screaming at some unfortunate person. Slipping his hand to his side where the holster for the laser screwdriver, he opened the door. He found Rose, his beloved wife, shouting at a guard. The guard was frazzled and terrified.

" Ah, here he is. My husband'll make you regret locking me in here with you." Rose smiled smugly. The expression angered the Master more. To piss off his wife, he looked at the guard, " Thank you for bringing her here and keeping an eye on her. Take a break. You've earned it."

The Master had to hide his expression at the sight of the two humans, truly he really didn't know which one was funnier. The guard looked shocked and fearful he'd entered some parallel reality, and Rose looked like she just couldn't believe what she was hearing.

" You heard me," the Master said to the guard once more, " Leave, take a break. I'll handle this."

The guard was the only one to notice the laser screwdriver in the Master's hand, then decided to get out before he wound up dead, or worse.

" Yes sir," the guard saluted before he left the room in a hurry. The Master watched him go with a smile that showed how hilarious it had been to terrify the pathetic Human soldier. Then he turned his attention back to his wife when she started talking.

Rose was speechless with rage, " Why did you do that ? He kept me locked up, is this 'cos of that little whore you've been making eyes at."

The Master lost his patience, and slapped her across the face, " Insolent primitive." he hissed at her as her head snapped backwards. Rose staggered back from him, realising for the first time the pure fury in his face. The anger that the Time lord was feeling exploded. He aimed the laser screwdriver at the petrified Rose and triggered it.

The Master had spent a lot of time reading books of this time period, and had been hooked on the Harry Potter stories, even though he felt nothing but contempt for the short-sightedness of Lord Voldemort. But he approved wholeheartedly of a number of things in the novels. One of them was the cruciatus curse, the torture curse. It gave the Master the idea and the means of punishing his enemies and servants who failed him. His laser screwdriver had a number of special properties, the genetic manipulation setting that had already turned the Doctor into Gandalf was only the tip of the iceberg. Like other screwdrivers the Master had included the usual properties, but he also installed a synaptic scanner to calibrate the screwdriver setting with the species he was torturing. The tips of the screwdriver were capable of generating a field that moved from one nerve cluster to another, keeping the victim - oh, how the Master loved that word, in a state of absolute pain.

Rose fell to the ground as the field pushed what felt like white hot needles into her nerve clusters. She screamed louder than she'd ever done in her life. Time seemed to slow down for her.

The Master meanwhile was enjoying this, his wife, the whore who painted her face each day with more and more junk, the bitch who wouldn't shut her bloody mouth, was twisting and turning on the ground, her mouth open as the musical sound of her screams filled the air. Maybe he could run that sound into MP3.…

Then the Master stopped the screwdriver. Rose gasped loudly in relief, her throat was raw, her lungs felt like a blacksmith's billows, needle like made her stay on the ground.

The Master lowered his arm, and kicked Rose in the stomach. Rose folded into herself, gasping loudly as the wind was knocked out of her. She hadn't been prepared for the attack. When the Master spoke, his voice was icy.

" I hope you are still listening to me, I'm only going to say this only once. I have spent the past few months preparing this planet for war, building a new empire. The last thing I want to hear is that one of my servants has been beaten for no rational reason. I don't hurt people without good cause. If I hear that you've gone and done it again, then there will be longer torture sessions."

The Master thought over what he'd just said, and then added, " You will stay in this room for the next week, under guard at all times. Your meals will be served here, and you will eat all of it. It will not be wasted under any circumstances. The guards will be told to not let you out, and if you throw another tantrum like the one I found you indulging in when I came in here, I will let the guards know that they can beat you."

The Master smirked when he saw the look of shock and horror in Rose's eyes, he was enjoying himself enormously.

" Don't ever cross me again, Rose. You are not my equal, you are my Human," Rose, even in her most delusional state, couldn't mistake the disgust the Time lord had used when he used her species name, " Wife. Nothing more."

While the Master was disciplining his wife, the Doctor was sitting in his wheelchair, knowing that the Master would be stopping by shortly. The Master was predictable, he would arrive back after hearing about the attack Rose had carried out on Michelle, punish her, then come down here and make everyone's life a misery.

The Master came into the room, everyone saw he was in a right mood. That made everyone wish they were tiny so then they wouldn't be noticed. But they needn't have worried themselves, to their relief and concern, the Master headed over to the Doctor.

Whilst the Master was hated, the Doctor was well liked, he was charming in his way, he was incredibly kind and gentle, he was also encouraging, telling everyone that the Master was not like his wife. Oh, no, he could be worse. But even the Doctor had been stunned by the vicious and senseless way Rose had attacked Michelle.

The Master took the Doctor's wheelchair and wheeled him over to the window. Dragging a chair for himself over to sit on, the Master and the Doctor started to have a chat.

" You never loved her, did you ?" The Master asked quietly.

The Doctor knew how much the Master hated admitting his mistakes, he had certainly been prideful and unrepentant all those years ago when he unleashed the power of Logopolis without doing careful research. But the Doctor knew his old enemy well enough to know he wouldn't try something like that again. In this case the Doctor thought he understood, " You mean Rose ?"

The other Time lord nodded, " I brought her back because I watched the TARDIS datafiles, I thought I'd discovered your weakness."

For the Master to admit this was astounding enough, but the Doctor had already worked out the rationale behind the Master bringing Rose Tyler back in the first place. But too hear him admit his mistake….the Doctor knew that to do that the Master must've truly swallowed his pride.

" Well, you didn't," The aged Doctor wheezed painfully, his lungs gulping massive amounts of air just to keep up with the Master.

The Master looked at him quietly, his eyes and face blank. The Doctor had never seen a person resemble a Cyberman in all his life, but the Master certainly came close in that second.

" Of course," the twisted Time lord whispered, " Of course, there was a rumour that you fancied Lady Romana. A renegade Time lord attracted to someone who's family were one of the cream of Time lord society."

The Doctor knew nothing he said would convince the Master otherwise, besides he'd double his efforts to locate Romana and Martha, but he knew Romana, she wouldn't make it easy for the Master.

The Master carried on, he knew that the Doctor wouldn't give anything away, " And then again, there was the way you shouted at me over the phone. Very protective of you, Doctor."

The Doctor's voice was as cold as he could make it, " Leave them both alone."

" Now why should I do that ?" the Master asked mockingly, " Lady Romana, one of the last of the Time lords, the last pure Time lady in existence. You wouldn't want anything to happen to her, would you ?"

The horror the Doctor felt in his chest had nothing to do with his emotional state, clutching his chest to control his hearts, the Doctor saw the images in his mind as the Master forced himself onto Romana, or the sickening image of him torturing her….

He must not let that happen. If it killed him, the Doctor wouldn't let Romana suffer a fate worse than death…

Tish Jones was on the nightshift. Cleaning the main control room was given in shifts to the maids, the Master expected the room to be clean and tidy at all times. The job wouldn't normally take long, around two hours. This was because the staff were terrified of the Master's anger.

Besides, Tish was a woman on a mission. The Doctor was kept in a tent in the corner, and the Maids, the guards and the rest of the staff usually avoided that part of the room, particularly if they wanted to keep the Master happy.

But Tish wanted a word with the Doctor. She finished cleaning the room in a short amount of time, an hour and a half, and used the final half hour to talk to the Doctor. The Master was presently on the surface of Earth, supervising the works. So she was safe, unless Rose found out. Mrs Saxon was a jealous, manipulative, heartless bitch, who wouldn't hesitate to kill Tish.

Tish knelt down near the tent, and whispered, " Doctor, can you hear me ?"

There was a scrambling inside the tent and a tired voice replied, " Tish, is that you ? What is it ? What's going on ?"

" We need to talk."

The Doctor opened the tent flaps, his eyes tired. Time lords needed less sleep than humans, but that didn't mean they weren't meant to get any. Besides, in his current state, the Doctor knew that his body needed all the peace and quiet he could get. Luckily, the time the Master was on the planet gave him that peace, Rose being confined to her room was an extra bonus.

" A talk ? What about ?"

Tish got down to business, " I know that you and mum haven't been talking, but surely you can make the effort."

" Tish, your mother chose information from a source that was second hand. Besides, she chose to trust someone she didn't know over her own daughter. That's what the Master does, he takes someone close to the target, and he uses a few well placed words and bends them to his will. Its his nature, he can't help it."

" I barely spoke to your mother that night I met her, partially because I had nothing I really wanted to say to her. I've had bad experiences with mothers of my friends, and I wasn't about to repeat mistakes. The second reason is because of Lazarus. He meddled in things your species need to leave alone. Extending life shouldn't mean tearing your cells apart to do it."

Tish shuddered as memories of how she was going to kiss Lazarus filled her brain, the fact he planning on draining her dry made her shudder more. It was bad enough when Annalise came along, she sucked her father dry of everything he had, but at least he would still be alive.

The Doctor carried on, " I risked my own life to stop him, then I was accused of being behind most of it. All by your mother. I called out to Lazarus, who was looking at your brother and mother like they were happy meals. Would I do that if I was evil ? No, I wouldn't. I care about life, sentient or not."

Tish absorbed everything she was hearing, she knew the Doctor was right.

The Doctor carried on, " Your mother listened to someone, someone who had an agenda. Did she bother to speak to Martha about it ? No, she didn't. I saw your mother and father arrested, Tish. They were with a bunch of people whose whole bearing screamed " government " to me. Your mother almost, _almost, _lead your sister into a trap. Do you really think I care about her at this point ? Don't interrupt, I haven't finished." he added when the Jones girl was about to speak.

The Doctor gathered his breath and voice, " I think when your mother saw those guns, she realised, truly realised that Harold Saxon, " he empathised the name, " wasn't the second Churchill. That he didn't care about her, that he'd manipulated her. The Master is a genius when it comes to manipulation, when your father blew her cover, he had your family arrested."

" But can't you give her a chance ?"

The Doctor eyed Tish, making the Human woman feel like she was a bug under a microscope, " Why should I ? Your mother put the word of strangers, empty promises, above the word of her own child. Didn't it occur to her to call Martha, to find out what was happening ? Why didn't she bother following us when we went after Lazarus, like you did ? She could've, should've, but she didn't."

" I don't plan on forgiving anyone for their mistakes, I've just found that the Master, one of the last of my kind, and one of the most psychotic, married someone I travelled with. Rose betrayed not just me, she's betrayed everyone on Earth. Rose is responsible for the deaths of millions."

Tish looked down, she knew that the Doctor had raised a number of good points, but she wasn't going to give up.

" Can't you at least think about it ?" She asked.

The Doctor sighed, " Look at me, go on look. What do you see ? You see the results of your mother's treachery, I don't blame her completely, but if she'd trusted me and your sister, then I could've dealt with the Master. Instead, I'm locked up and aged to a point where I can barely move, let alone crawl around on the floor, you're a servant, your parents are enslaved, one of my former companions is married to a monster, your sister and the woman I love are on the planet below, trying to clean up the mess the Master has made."

Tish glared at him, " My mother isn't completely responsible for this."

The Doctor nodded, " No, " he agreed, " It isn't, partially its my fault, Martha can also take some of the blame, but I know that you Humans are so small minded you can't accept that outside your cosy, barren little world, other things maybe possible. Time travel, aliens. The Master, me and Romana fall under those categories. Martha knew, that if she told the truth, you wouldn't believe her. Only if I'd learnt from my experiences with Rose's mother then I would've shown your mother and you the TARDIS, then half of this disaster wouldn't have happened."

Tish walked back into the slave quarters. Her parents were still awake, knowing she would be back. The slave workers knew that even with the Master away for the next few days, they were taking advantage of that. But that didn't mean they weren't going to keep the Valiant clean.

Her parents jumped up when she came in.

" What took you so long ?" her father asked.

Tish sat down on her bunk, boy she missed her bed back home. " I was talking to the Doctor."

Francine looked up, guilt filling her body the name, " What did he say ?" she asked quietly. Clive wrapped an arm gently around her shoulders.

Tish looked at her sadly, " I don't think he's gonna forgive you mum, at least not yet. He did point out good reasons."

Clive was angry that the Doctor would callously disregard his ex wife, but the janitor had barely seen the other Time lord. It had been a shock to learn the Master and the Doctor came from the same planet. Before he could speak up, Francine asked nervously, " What are they ?"

" That you didn't trust Martha, that you didn't try to follow him and us to Suffolk Cathedral after Lazarus, that you placed your trust in strangers, even government strangers." Tish said.

Francine looked down at her hands. She knew the Doctor was right there, she hadn't had a good reason to trust government agents, even if they had given her reasons for what they were doing. Francine had let them fill her head with lies, let them into her home, let them tap into her phone when she was contacting Martha, she'd even brought in her estranged husband to help her.

But when they showed their true colours, she couldn't believe it. Now, they were paying the price; Francine and Clive and Tish were enslaved by their own prime minister who was in fact an alien from another world, who was intent on building an empire out of the blood of the human race.

How could the Doctor forgive her for that ?

Tish leaned forward, " The Doctor also added that some of the blame can be given between you, him and Martha." both Jones parents looked up at that, wondering why there would be blame on Martha's door. Tish carried on.

" The Doctor said we were small minded, that our race don't have the ability to see things outside our cosy little world. Time travel, aliens, invasions….the Doctor's right. We are so tiny when compared to other worlds and times. Martha knew that, that's why she didn't say anything. I bet she regrets it now."

Tish stared her mother in the eye, " I think the Doctor will forgive you, just give him time. Don't pester him, get to know him. It might work."


	21. Chapter 21 The Fusion Mill of China

**The Fusion Mill of China. **

Romana and Martha were presently looking into a massive valley. It had once held a massive industrial facility for making cars, but now the Master used it for making a small amount of his weapons. The people of China had spent the time they'd been conquered been rounded up and forced to build this place up. It now had a few things added on, one of them was an airport.

The airports of the industrial facilities were the only places that were allowed for flights around the world, but Romana was curious about why the Master had done this to this virtually unimportant factory. From what the local resistance said the factory was manufacturing weapons, but they couldn't say what sort were being made.

" Remind me again, why are we doing this ?" Martha panted as they both slid down a hill.

Romana sighed; Humans really irked her sometimes.

" The Master has done something to this factory, I want to know what it is." Romana said, brushing the loose soil and leaves off her trousers.

" But we're supposed to be spreading the word of the Doctor," Martha protested, pointing out the obvious, and putting an image into Romana's mind of her whacking Martha over the head with a club to stop her pointing out the obvious.

Romana stopped and moved so close to Martha that the human backed away, " Thanks for reminding me, Martha. But let me tell you something, right now I'm in charge. I want to fight the Master, but I want to know what other things he has planned. We both know what he's doing in those bloody shipyards. But I want to know what he's doing here. If you don't like that, then go away."

Martha was stunned by the abrupt way Romana had spoken to her, she knew that Romana got easily exasperated by Martha's constant questioning of her actions. She shuddered as she recalled the shipyards, massive docks with millions of people, women and children being forced into building the Master's space fleet.

Martha saw that the Time lady was walking away fast, she ran to catch up. Martha looked into Romana's perfect visage, how could she beat that ? In Martha's eyes, Romana was a goddess compared to her. She knew she would never be able to beat that.

" I'm sorry, I know I have a problem with questions. But I just want to know." Martha said.

Romana stopped, and let out a sigh, " Martha, there's nothing wrong with asking questions. But please, try and see things from my perspective. You think that just because the Master's conquered the world. Your world, your people. You think that that makes me unsympathetic, you're wrong. You seem to forget I am one of the last of my people, I have no planet, my family are dead and gone, my people forgotten by the cosmos. On top of that, one of the survivors of my race is a madman, someone who wants to conquer the universe and rule it with an iron fist, don't ever think for one instant you are alone, if we fail, then the Master will win. If we don't investigate this plant, the Master's weapons will cause more destruction than this insignificant planet will ever endure."

Martha was furious, " My planet's not insignificant !"

Romana had a sneer on her face, " And the others aren't ? You think your primitive race is worth more than the others ?" she gestured furiously at the plant, " That factory sends out 50 planes a day. 50. Martha, get your head out of the sand. If not, then stay here, and give me the vortex manipulator. I'll carry out the Doctor's plan on my own. I'd probably get the job done faster."

Martha's voice was faint, " Do I slow you down ?"

Romana closed her eyes and groaned, " No, you don't. I enjoy your company. But your problem is, like the rest of your narrow minded generation, you never, ever, think that there's more to a situation than your stereotypical thoughts lead too."

" What does that mean ?"

" It means, that when someone says something to you, you automatically assume something instead of deducing something else. " Romana took a deep breath, " I'm going inside that plant, whether you like it or not. It's up to you if you want to come or not."

* * *

Romana walked inside the backdoor their contacts had revealed, Martha followed but at a distance. Creeping inside wasn't a problem, the plant was virtually deserted. The workers, if you could call starving people workers, were in a dormitory. They had no loyalty to the state leader, which was what the Master called his agents in charge of the regions he controlled.

Romana had no intention of staying inside and preaching, not just yet, besides some of the people went outside and managed to go into towns and what remained in the cities, but Martha might need to be restrained. The factory might be a good time to actually tell people about the Doctor, but that didn't have to be tonight.

Martha managed to catch up with her. Romana was examining a piece of hardware that was massive. It resembled a cylinder and a sphere, connected to black cables and thick pipes.

" A fusion accelerator, literally pumps fusion energy into the plant." Romana explained.

" Why would the Master have it ?" Martha asked puzzled.

Romana didn't answer, she just walked on. Martha sighed and hurried after her. Romana found the answer to some of her questions when she reached the factory floor.

The room had once held a production line for cars, now it held massive devices that resembled clay urns, but Romana recognised fusion moulders when she saw them.

" Fusion moulders, no wonder these plants make so many of …whatever they make." Romana whispered.

Martha hated the idea of sounding like an ignorant fool, but she couldn't help but ask, " What's a fusion moulder ?"

Romana didn't seem to mind the question, " A fusion moulder is like moulding clay, except matter is manipulated using a fusion reactor and magnetic fields. With this, manufacturers wouldn't need to worry about creating mistakes with their materials."

Martha frowned, " What does the Master want them for ?"

Romana was still examining the moulder, " If you had a deadline, if you wanted to manufacture weapons or other pieces of hardware, then you'd want to make them in quite a hurry."

The two girls moved on, for most of the way they found more fusion moulders, only some of them were much larger, or smaller for different components. The deeper they walked, the more Romana wondered what sort of technology the Master would have in mind. There were so many possibilities, but since Romana didn't know the Master that well and only by reputation, there was no way for her to know.

It wasn't until they reached a massive warehouse Romana found her answer. Massive crates were packed neatly into the room in stacks. On each stack was the area the consignments of crates would be sent too - the ship yard of Russian, shipyard No.1, basically, one of the largest shipyards on Earth. Australia, New Guinea, Britain, parts of Europe, Africa and so on.

Romana went to one of the crates, one that was sitting more or less alone in its own, taking a slim silver device from her pocket, Martha watched as Romana used the device on the crate. It made a humming sound, one Martha recognised at once.

A sonic screwdriver.

" I didn't know you had one of those." Martha whispered. She didn't want to irritate Romana any more than she already had done.

Romana didn't look up from her work, the crate was nailed down really tight and it was giving the screwdriver a lot of work.

" There's a lot about me you don't know," the Time lady said, concentrating hard on her work.

It took Romana another 3 minutes to open the case, and when she did she stepped back and gently lowered the lid off and laid in down on the floor. Romana looked inside and gasped, " No, not that, surely. "

Martha looked inside the box. Inside was a sphere. It was silvery coloured with a red ring around the centre, most of it was made of black plastic, or something like plastic. There was another component, a black block connected by servos and cables.

" What is it ?" Martha whispered.

Romana's voice was grim, " A black hole converter. It manipulates gravity around an object, its possible to create a black hole by tracking matter from one point in space, and collapsing it into singularity. This device does that with remarkable precision. Black hole converters were used in the war, albeit with more advanced materials."

" I still don't understand about the black hole converters," Martha said to Romana, holding herself against the cold, just keeping close to the fire Romana and her had set up. " Why would the Master make them ?"

Romana was sitting cross legged across from her, her face grim as she drank some boiled water, " Because the Time lords became what they were with black holes. Their the symbol of Time lord supremacy."

Romana leant forward into the light, her voice and face almost reverent, " Thousands of years ago, the early Time lords, back then known as Gallifreyans, were studying time and time travel. We'd already created small machines, basic ones, but they put us on track for creating the TARDISes we use today. The experiments meant our energy infrastructure at the time was having to cope with the demand, meaning we needed a more powerful and everlasting form of energy.

" Two of our greatest minds came together to do this. Omega and Rassilon. Omega was the foremost stellar engineer."

Martha interrupted, " Hold on, stellar, you mean stars ?"

Romana sharply retorted, " Yes, stellar. He did engineer stars. Let me finish. Omega developed a device called the Hand of Omega, not his actual hand, it was just called that. The Hand of Omega was, in fact, a remote stellar manipulator. A truly powerful piece of technology. Back then it was considered a breakthrough. Omega used it to blow up a sun, the bang was so loud it was heard across the galaxy. The sun, already dying, became a supernova, but the stress on space time was tremendous. The nova collapsed into a black hole, and it was through that black hole Omega vanished. I wont go into details, but Rassilon managed to collect the black hole, placing it inside a containment unit and managed to harness its energy.

" Since then, black holes have become a symbol of the Time lords. With a bit of work, the black hole collected enabled us to create the TARDISes and provide a power source for them. You didn't really think we used space time rifts, did you ?" Romana asked Martha, who didn't respond.

Romana carried on, " The Master knows that story, just like every other Time lord did. He knew the destructive properties, like I do. I know that making a black hole weapon is easy. The Master's black hole converters are primitive, but they're more easy to construct than the others."

Martha looked into Romana's eyes, the lesson in Time lord history giving her a more profound respect for the alien race. The fact they'd become what they had with such an experiment based on teamwork amazed her, if only Humans would do that for something other than war….

" What do we do ?"

" Nothing."

* * *

The guard captain was examining the fence, " You see, sir The fence was cut here."

The commandant was a fat, nervous little Chinaman, the last thing he wanted was to inform the state leader of what had happened here. If he found out any workers had escaped, and if the news got back to the Master…..

" Double the guard on the fences, search the factory. But make it quick. It's going to be dawn in 3 hours." the commandant said, looking nervously up in the air.

The guard captain nodded, making a mental note to bring this to the attention of the state leader. The commandant's carelessness would be his downfall.

* * *

Romana's reply had stunned Martha, the Human didn't understand why the Time lady was willing to stand back and watch.

" But, why not ?"

Romana lost her patience, " Oh, use your brain Martha. If we sabotage the plant, then the Master will simply build another. If we leave it alone, then we can use one of the planes here to leave for Japan. I saw the consignment roster, in a few hours time, a plane will leave for Japan. We're going to be on it. But before that, we tell the workers about the Doctor, and do it quickly. We'll get some rest on the plane."

* * *

Martha and Romana were just finishing their time with the workers, who promised them they'd spread the word of the Doctor. Romana wished they wouldn't need to use such wording, it made the other Time lord sound like something he just wasn't.

Both girls were inside a massive packing crate, one of hundreds. It had been the only way they could get inside the plane. It was a tight squeeze, both girls were relatively tall, and then there was the fact the guards in the factory were trying to find them. It never occurred to them that the people they were looking for was in a crate, it was one of the oldest tricks in the book.

Romana looked at Martha, and took out her perception filter. She held hers out in front of Martha, and mouthed, **Put it on, and activate it. They wont bother looking in the box.**

Martha accepted the logic.

* * *

The guard captain was trying hard to stop himself from shooting the panicking commandant. The little pig was jumping up and down, squalling for reports. The two people that broke inside his plant would go against him, the Master would hear of it, and when that happened…..

The commandant knew he wasn't popular; he was a cowardly man, whose only hold on power was the fact he had been selected by the state leader.

The guard captain was trying hard not to smile at the pig, and fantasised about controlling the plant in the future, and enjoyed the image of the present commandant as a slave worker.

Whilst he was dreaming up fantasies, it slipped his mind to search the packing crates. There were so many that such a thing would slow down the deliveries. The Master didn't like delays, if one happened at the weapon plants then he was in trouble. They all were.

Martha and Romana had been inside the crate for over 3 hours in China, and it took another hour for them to be loaded on the plane. Both girls were silent inside the crate, Romana was reading a book she'd managed to pick up from a shop in Beijing, Martha's eyes were closed as she tried to get something resembling sleep.

Romana knew that soon they'd be in Japan, and then they would try to carry out the Doctor's plan. They'd had some good progress in spreading the word in China, but Romana hoped that their word would be more than enough to spread their word.

5 hours after they'd hidden themselves inside the crates, both girls were flying, first class, for Japan.


	22. Chapter 22

**I'm sorry if my version of Romana isn't ok with you. But bear in mind that the Romana of the TV series was sometimes cold. Look at her first incarnation during the search of the Key of Time. **

**Mind Touch. **

On the coast of Australia, one second of peace and quiet, broken only by the squawk of birds, and the sound of the wind, turned into a rush of colours as the time vortex opened a portal. Martha and Romana, clutching the stomach churning vortex manipulator, collapsed to their knees.

Martha groaned and vomited, everything she'd eaten in the last 24 hours was regurgitated all over the once immaculate sand.

Romana closed her eyes, the vomit was doing things to her stomach, which was tempted to do the same. The effects of the vortex manipulator, coupled with the way the Toclafane had slaughtered innocent Japanese people made her lose her Time lord self control.

Romana bent down, and vomited all over the place. It took a moment for the girls to recover from their recent ordeal. The Time lady went over on unsteady legs and hugged Martha to her chest. The girl lost control of her emotions, and she sobbed her heart out. Romana held her, letting her friend recover her composure. Yes, Martha could be annoying when it came to constantly asking questions, but Romana genuinely cared about her.

Martha choked out, " They - They - k-k-killed them ! All of them ! W-why, why did they do it ?"

Romana swallowed thickly, the new memories made her throat raw, " I think, that Rose ordered them to attack Japan, to get to us. Think of it as jealousy with razors and laser blasts."

Martha's head moved so fast Romana heard the crack, " What the hell d'ya mean ?"

" We've been around Toclafane long enough for me to get an idea of how the Master controls them," Romana said, pushing Martha off so then she could look properly into her friends' eyes, " The Master is a hypnotist, the Doctor explained that, he even showed the way the Master duped everyone."

" The Archangel network,"

Romana nodded, glad that Martha had cottoned onto what she was talking about, " The Master's control over the world extends to the Toclafane, whenever they approach, I can feel a lingering tang on my telepathic senses. When he sent those Toclafane down to Earth the first time I could feel his essence all over them, it's the same when they pass over. But this time…" she faltered as memories of Japan on fire, the people being sliced as they tried to run for cover….it made even the sometimes cold Time lady feel sick again, " This time, I felt only a lingering tang, the control wasn't there. The Master would never allow his servants to wipe out a resource."

Martha understood, at least she hoped she did, she ignored the resource bit - Humans were not resources, " So, the Master controls them through hypnosis. I understand that bit, but wouldn't that be a strain ? I mean, wouldn't that give the Master problems concentrating ?"

" Not if he uses the TARDIS telepathic circuits in the network, but the Master can simply," she waved a hand " Plug his mind inside that of the network, and guide the Toclafane."

Martha's eyes widened, " The TARDIS, you mean the TARDIS is helping the Master ?"

" No," Romana said hurriedly, " Not willingly, anyway. The Master's a Time Lord, that means the TARDIS has no choice but to obey him, she has no choice. But don't think that means that she wants too. She hates the Master for what he's done to her."

" I still don't see how the TARDIS is a part of the Archangel network." Martha said after a moment of thinking.

Romana smiled, " You are aware, by now, that the TARDIS translates alien languages for you in your head ?" when Martha nodded Romana carried on, " The TARDIS does that by using the Time lord gift of understanding languages, via the telepathic circuits. In conquering the Earth, the Master has used one of the basics of Time lord science. The archangel network is linked to the TARDIS's telepathic circuits, and it boosts the field and allows the Master to cause what he's doing. The network is the key to the Master's downfall. His one great strength, and his weakness. The Toclafane are just his dogsbodies."

Martha was confused, she understood the bit about the Master having control of the TARDIS, but she couldn't see how Romana could tell it had been Rose who'd ordered the slaughter of Japan and it's people.

" Even if you're right, what does that have to do with Rose ?"

" When the Toclafane flew over us and dive bombed everyone, I didn't feel the Master's telepathic imprint on them. More to the point, he wouldn't want to waste a resource, as he clearly saw the Japanese people. Rose doesn't care, not if she's done what we've been told she's done."

Both girls fell silent as they thought about the atrocities Rose Saxon had caused. Like her husband and the Toclafane, Rose had established a reputation for herself. That of a cold blooded murdering psychopath. The things Romana and Martha had been told….

Martha didn't see how the archangel network was the key to the Master's downfall, " How can the network be the Master's downfall ?"

Romana nodded, her mind made up, " The Time lords discovered that telepathic circuits can generate vast amounts of power. Since it's mental energy, it can do anything. The Master uses it to strengthen his hold on the Earth, he's dependent on it. The Archangel network is basically a giant telepathic circuit, something that any Time lord could conceive. In fact, it's the simplest way that he could cause a massive compulsion over the population. But it can be reversed."

" That's what we're doing, we're gathering the energy the Doctor needs to rejuvenate himself and reverse the damage the laser screwdriver has done."

" How ?"

Romana nodded, " That's a good question. What do you think the primary emotion, feeling if you like, the population of the world is at the moment ?"

Martha took a guess, " Despair ?"

" No."

" Hopelessness ?"

Romana shook her head, " No, think positive."

" Hope ?" Martha asked in understanding.

Romana nodded, a smile on her face, " Right," she clicked her fingers, " Yes, hope. Good emotion, hope. It can do wonders. Before we left Sarah Jane, I asked her to spread the word that we were wondering the world, but I told her to be discreet. That set the stage for allowing the idea of hope to spread, it was just a rumour, but it was enough."

" I've wondered why people seemed to know about us when we first started. I get that Romana, but I don't see how hope is gonna help us," Martha said.

Romana sighed, and Martha was surprised to see that she looked as grim as Martha felt. " This is the tricky part. Have you felt since we started wandering around the world, that the people we've spoken too haven't been spreading the message, and only the Doctor's former companions have actually spread the word to millions of sceptics ?"

Martha hated that feeling, that all their work was for nothing. She knew Romana had those same thoughts, it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

" Yes," she admitted, " All the time," she added.

Romana nodded gravely, " Hope does a lot of things, Martha. But even so, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the of the people we speak too are only there to find out what we're going to do about the Gun." Romana said gesturing to Martha's backpack. Thanks to Ian Chesterton they'd been able to cobble together something that would fool the Master and keep him off guard and unaware of their true purpose. Romana hated guns, even though she wasn't afraid of them like the Doctor was, memories of her first incarnation shooting down the Captain's guards on Zanak came to mind, along with the things her third incarnation had done during the Time War.

But Romana knew it wouldn't fool the Master for long.

Martha shuddered as she turned her gaze to the backpack, she hated guns and violence. She was a doctor, well a doctor in training, but she was a healer. Not a killer.

That night, both girls fell into an uneasy sleep. Romana didn't often dream, but when she did she dreamt of home, the home she could never return too.

But now…..

Romana found herself in what she recognised as a dreamscape, as a Time lady she was aware of mental landscapes. She understood the theory, but she didn't understand how this one was formed now.

" Hello Romana," a familiar voice said from behind her. Romana turned around. Standing there, tall and grinning, all teeth and curls, was the Doctor. Not the Doctor as she knew him, but the Doctor she'd travelled with for so many years during his Fourth incarnation. He was standing there, long maroon coat, awkward looking clothes and the scarf that looked like someone hadn't stopped knitting. He looked young, much like he had when they'd first met. As they continued their travels, he grew older before she'd left for E - space to help the Tharils.

" Doctor," she whispered. Suddenly, she lost control and ran into him, wrapping her arms around him.

" Now this is a welcome, eh ?" The Doctor asked.

They both laughed. Romana buried her face into his chest, feeling the double pulse of his twin hearts. This was nice, she felt like she was home. Romana loved the Doctor, but this one…she knew better than all of them. She loved the present one since he had a nature similar to the fourth Doctor.

Both of them sat down on the grass, red like Gallifrey's, for a moment both of them didn't speak. The Doctor held Romana in his arms.

Finally she broke the silence, " How are you here ?"

The Doctor chuckled, " I see you haven't changed since your first life. The present version of me is currently onboard the Valiant, trying to maintain the Archangel connection."

Romana nodded, understanding completely, " So, he projected you into my head ?"

" Essentially yes, he wanted to come but the problem is the transference is too unstable. It's also a tremendous strain on the present me's mind to allow this." the Doctor explained.

That made sense to Romana; the archangel network was designed to reach minds, not communicate with them. The sheer strain on the Doctor's mind must be colossal.

" How long are you here for ?" she asked at last.

" Not long, whilst time has no meaning here it's not a good idea. The present Doctor's under enough strain as it is, what with being forcibly aged, and Rose Tyler and the Master making peoples lives a misery."

" What's happening on the Valiant anyway ?" Romana asked.

For what seemed like hours, the Doctor explained the recent events to Romana. The Time lady heard how Rose had been punished by the Master for attacking that maid, how the Master was torturing Jack, forcing him to die is various ways, the assassination attempt on the Master and the way the perpetrator was killed.

Romana listened to the way the Doctor told her about how Tish had asked him to forgive her mother, and she could see the way the Doctor felt about Francine. The Doctor had good reason not to trust Francine, after the way the woman had trusted strangers following an agenda the woman would be lucky if the Doctor spoke to her again.

The current incarnation of the Doctor didn't take fools lightly, and then again there was the lack of second chances from the Doctor. But even so she felt the Doctor should consider forgiving Francine, the elder Jones must see by now that the Master fed her lies.

" I think you should forgive her," Romana stated. The Doctor looked at her questioningly and Romana carried on, " I think Francine realises by now that the Master lied to her, and fed her fears."

The Doctor nodded, " Alright, I'll take it back."

Romana nodded.

" So, who launched those Toclafane on Japan ?" she asked. The Doctor winced, he'd been on the flight deck of Valiant when Rose ordered it.

" Rose," the Doctor admitted, confirming the Time lady's theory about who was responsible for the destruction of an entire country and population. " I'd found out both of you were in Japan, and I cried. I cried because I knew you were alive, Romana. You and Martha, both alive and kicking. Anyway, I forgot about the cameras, and by the time I'd realised my mistake, the Master and Rose swaggered onto the flight deck. The Master taunted me, and I replied that I-" he stopped.

Romana's hearts were beating furiously, " You what ?" she whispered.

The Doctor looked at her, and pulled his courage together, " I love you, Romanadvoratrelundar. I love you with both my hearts."

Romana had tears in her eyes, " I love you too," she admitted.

The Doctor nodded happily, the massive trademark grin of the Fourth Doctor all over his face. For a while, neither Time lord spoke, but then the Doctor broke the silence.

" Believe it or not, you're actually spreading the word." The Doctor whispered into her ear.

Romana looked into his eyes, " You mean people are believing us ?"

" It helps that some people have travelled with me, it gives a sense of reality. But, yes, depending on your view, people are spreading the word." The Doctor said.

Romana had had some doubts about her mission, but now the Doctor was here she was reassured that she was succeeding.

When Romana woke up, she saw Martha's sleeping body, and she smiled. They were succeeding. People were believing them.


	23. Chapter 23 Peri

**I've decided to speed up this story a little bit. Again, I don't own Doctor Who or the franchise. Still, I can dream. **

**Peri. **

Romana and Martha had spent a month in Australia before moving to the U.S. Romana had found Australia a beautiful place in spite of the carnage and devastation the Master had wrought over the country. Romana had smiled at the sheer nature of the place, and swore that she would return here and drag the Doctor with her. It would be like Paris, but in the summer.

Martha ran a hand through her head, " Let's go, I just want to sleep." her voice and body language showing Romana just how knackered she truly was.

Romana nodded in full agreement. They'd spent their first night in America speaking to the slave workers of the local state - one of the Master's states, not one of those the Americans had used to separate their country into pieces - and they'd spoken about the Doctor. It had taken them 3 hours because of the number of people there, but they'd succeeded. The state of the workers angered Romana, they were emaciated, worked almost to death, left to shelter in inhuman conditions, whilst the Master and his bitch wife Rose was living in luxury. Bastard.

" Let's hope that they spread the word without the state leader cottoning on. The last time something like that happened meant a three month hunt through Asia." Romana said, shuddering at the thought of Asia. Quite a few people had died to cover their retreat.

Romana hoped it was worth it. In spite of the manifestation of the Fourth Doctor's assurance that the message was being carried, Romana still couldn't stop the doubts. She just hoped that it worked. It was a genuine pity that the Tenth Doctor hadn't come up with a better idea for the disposal of the Master. It would've saved Romana and Martha the problems they had with shelter, food and water.

They were just about to leave when a woman with an American accent spoke from behind, " Excuse me, can I have a word with you ?"

Romana and Martha turned around and saw the woman. She wasn't very tall, she was quite short. She had short dark hair, even though she was middle aged she, like Sarah Jane Smith, had still good looks. Her eyes were liquid pools of intelligence, and she had a look of someone who'd seen a lot. Romana got a good look at her, there was something familiar about her…..

The woman stepped forward and held out her hand, " I'm Perpugillium Brown, Peri for short. I travelled with the Doctor when he dressed as a cricketer and later, he dressed like a man who'd stepped into the middle of an art competition."

Romana gasped. Peri Brown ! The Fifth Doctor's last companion, and the first of the Sixth Doctor. The poor girl that had endured the violent and erratic episodes of the Sixth Doctor's personality, even being strangled by the Doctor after his violent regeneration after Androzani Minor. The girl who'd put up with it and helped him through the worst of that chaotic and unpredictable time.

That alone told Romana how strong this girl was. It had all ended, of course, like all good things. The problem was the Time lords had meddled in the Doctor's past around the time of his Sixth life, making Peri's life hard too chart. Romana herself had rescued Peri, feeling that marrying that war monger, King Ycarnos, had been a fate worse than death.

The Human had been grateful that someone had cared, the beauty was that Romana had told her what had happened, the whole episode had been confusing, one account said that Ycarnos had married her, one account had said she'd died. It was so irritating, so like the Time lords.

Romana had done it because she felt that Peri, as a fellow companion, deserved more than the unwanted meddling of a bunch of prejudiced and moronic Time lords.

Peri had surprised Romana with her intellect, and her perceptiveness. It still surprised her when the Human woman looked her over with recognition in her gaze, of course, Peri had seen Time lords in other bodies. It was natural that she'd recognise Romana.

" You've regenerated, Romana. You look good." Peri smiled. " By the way, thanks for rescuing me."

Martha gasped, " How do you - ?" she forgot about the rescuing part, for which Romana was eternally grateful. She didn't need questions from Martha right now.

Peri smiled at Martha, putting the younger woman at ease, " I've met enough Time lords in my lifetime to know them. I've seen regeneration before." Here she looked at Romana, puzzlement in her gaze, " Speaking of which, I thought you Time lords were supposed to prevent things like this, " she waved her hands around the devastation.

Romana sagged and Peri, being highly perceptive when it came to body language, knew that something terrible had happened. It didn't help that Martha was watching with a sympathetic eye.

Romana took a deep breath and looked Peri straight in the eye, " The Time lords are dead."

The straight forward way Romana had said those five words brought Peri up. Peri, like many of the Doctor's former companions, had very little knowledge of the Time lords, she'd thought of them as people who looked down on the Universe. To hear of their demise…it stunned her.

" How ?" Peri gasped.

Romana motioned for her and Martha to sit down. For the next hour, Romana laid it all down, the Time war, the Dalek advances, the Curciform falling, the Master's resurrection. She told Peri about the Ultimate sanction, well, the basics about it anyway. When she did, both Humans gasped in horror.

" Your people would do that….?" Peri trailed off, horror in her face.

Romana nodded, " I'm not happy about it. I was the president once, but I was deposed, like I told you. The council went behind my back, brought the Master back. Then everything went straight deeper into hell."

Peri shook her head in disgust, " I can't believe you guys would be so stupid enough to bring that monster back. I still have nightmares about him."

" How many times did you meet the Master ?" Martha asked curiously, so far very few of the Doctor's former companions had met the insane Time lord. Tegan Jovanka had told Martha horror stories of the Master, how he'd murdered her aunt in a senseless attack, how he'd tried to kill the Doctor, causing him to regenerate into his fifth self, how he'd destroyed a good portion of the cosmos, something even the Daleks hadn't managed to do, and how he'd destroyed an entire species apart from a girl called Nyssa.

Martha was still jealous of the former companions, but she knew she had no real reason to be.

Romana didn't offer any excuses, " Believe me, if I'd have had my way the Master would've stayed dead. When I found out I couldn't believe it, the council, hell the entire planet knew the Master's deadly reputation."

Peri's face was like a mask, tight and drawn, " What happened when the bastard ran away ?"

Romana sighed, " The council were surprised, dunno why. I could see it a mile off. I never met the Master, but once you've been with a renegade Time lord for a while, then you get ideas about them in your mind."

Romana reached into her backpack and took out a bottle of lukewarm water and took a sip. She offered it to Peri, who took it and took a swig. She didn't grimace. Taste meant nothing now.

" Speaking of renegades, the Rani was involved in the Time war. She was one of the few that told me about the plan to wipe out all life."

Peri jumped at the name, fortunately not dropping the bottle, " The Rani ? I remember her, how she drained the brain fluid in the brains of miners so then she could experiment on it."

Romana nodded, ignoring Martha's reaction that it wasn't just the Master who caused humanity harm. Individual Time lords varied as much as Humans did, Martha must see that by now.

" I know."

Peri didn't seem satisfied, " Did she have any regrets ?"

Romana had personally fought alongside the Time lady, who'd taken the term " ice queen " too whole new heights. During the war, the Rani had gathered a reputation as a deadly, cunning and vicious fighter. Many Daleks had died because of her.

During that time the Rani had told her she'd seen so much grief and pain, that she'd seen the way she'd been before the war, that she'd cried her eyes out. Romana recalled having to hold the Rani in her arms as she sobbed.

Romana looked Peri straight in the eyes, " Yes, she did. She cried her eyes out in my arms after she watched her daughter die during one of the earliest battles of the war."

After their meeting, Peri promised to spread the word of the Doctor to the few companions Romana and Martha hadn't met.

Martha looked at the profile of her friend, " She seemed okay."

Romana nodded, " Peri has come a long way."

" What did she mean by rescuing by the way ?"

Romana sighed, " It's a long story. The Doctor visited a planet, Ravolox. It was like Earth in many ways, same climate, same mass, everything. It was so like Earth that _it was _Earth. The Time lords had moved it, just to maintain a few secrets."

Romana's voice was cold with rage, " I don't know too much myself, but I do know the Doctor was put on trial for it, for interfering," she sneered at the word. " In a later adventure, Peri was thought to have died. In fact, she was still alive. When I came back and I found out, I hit the roof. I decided to intervene. I got Peri home and explained to her as best I could."

Martha frowned, " How could the Time lords do that ?"

Romana looked back at her, " I don't know, they were corrupt. It happens in every government. It happens all the time."

They carried on with their journey.


	24. Chapter 24 A Charitable Earth

**Authors Note, I was planning on including Ace. I adored her character in the series, it's a pity they didn't go into greater depth, but then again, as Doctor Who night said about that time being like the Morecombe - Wise show. **

**I planned this chapter when I watched " Death of the Doctor." VIVA SARAH JANE SMITH !**

**A Charitable Earth - The Resistance. **

Romana and Martha followed a kid that Romana thought must be 7 or 8, it was hard to tell because the poor boy looked like his world had been shattered. Indeed, that look was common with children. Romana's hearts clenched with pain each and every time she saw the faces of children. It made her wish she could go back in her own personal timeline, and drag the pompous self centred fools that brought the Master back, and force them to watch what their actions had brought.

She wanted to scream at the sky, _This is what you've done, you bastards. Your decision to bring back the psychopathic creep has ruined the lives of innocents. _

But the Time lady knew in her hearts that if the High Council was still around they wouldn't care. Why would they ? In their eyes, Earth and other planets were primitive, and below their feet. Heaven knew why the cowards who'd sat in the council chamber bothered with the Time War. They didn't do anything, leaving Romana to do all their dirty work.

Now, here in front of her, was one of the results behind their actions, not even thought out.

If Romana was saddened by the loss of innocence in the child in front of them, then Martha was horrified. These were her people, conquered and battered down without a chance by a monster of the same species as the Doctor and Romana. Martha took a long look at the Time lady, and was amazed by the heartbroken look in her eyes.

Any ill will of the Time lords faded in that instance; it wasn't the Doctor's fault, or Romana's, that the Master had conquered the Earth. But if only the Doctor had selected another destination for the TARDIS then none of this would be happening.

Martha knew those thoughts wouldn't change reality, she needed to stay sharp and focused.

The boy led them into what was left of a building, the façade read, " A Charitable Earth," and Martha gasped with recognition. A Charitable Earth was globularly renowned for being one of the greatest charity organisations around the world, it had ties and investments in various projects for growing food and finding new sources of minerals and water too boost a countries flagging economy.

It was run by a woman called Dorothy, but Martha didn't know her last name, but she'd never imagined she would meet the woman who'd created it from virtually nothing. As for Romana, she didn't understand the significance of the organisation, but she gathered from Martha's reaction that this was special. Martha saw her friends' confusion and hurriedly explained it too her.

" A Charitable Earth, it's a worldwide charity organisation. It's run by this woman, Dorothy something. She's raised billions. She helps children, mostly. But she does other things - cancer research, famine relief…everything."

Romana nodded, wondering briefly why Humans couldn't be bothered with working out there problems with violence and stopping pain around their world.

The boy took them inside where they found camp beds lined in rows, bits of litter, foodstuffs and water bottles everywhere. The boy ran ahead of the two women and tugged on a bent persons' arm. The figure, who happened to be woman, moved her head. The boy gestured towards Romana and Martha. The woman got up from her position and Martha saw that she'd been tending a child on a bed.

Martha was about to rush off, but Romana stopped her. " Not yet, I want to know more about this woman."

The woman came over to them, walked into the light. Martha saw a woman in her forties, or somewhere in that age range. She had long brown hair done up in a messy ponytail. Her eyes, like Sarah Jane's, like Peri's showed that this woman had seen and done so much in a long time.

Romana looked at her, there was something about her…something out of time…..that was when it struck her. She'd travelled in time !

But Martha recognised her after a minute, her name was Dorothy McShane.

The woman, Dorothy, stepped forward, " Martha Jones," she said in a London accent to Martha before turning her attention over to Romana, " Romana."

When neither women spoke Dorothy asked again, " You are Martha Jones and Romana, aren't you ? I'd hate to have to have one of the Master's agents in here. Lord knows the Master's caused enough murder as it is." Dorothy's hand went to something in a handbag which was slung over her shoulder.

Martha nodded, " Don't worry, we're with the Doctor." Martha had no idea what the woman had in her bag, and truly didn't want to find out without making it clear they weren't a threat.

As she'd hoped, at the mention of the Doctor's name was enough to make Dorothy withdraw her hand from her bag. Suddenly the woman became more welcoming, she took them inside, past the numerous beds with children and people who were being tended too.

Dorothy would sometimes stop and talk to some of these people, reassuring them and giving instructions for food and water.

Finally she took them into a room which was clearly hers. It was quite Spartan, but there was a bed in a corner, another room where Martha could see chemical apparatuses arranged neatly.

" Sit down, " Dorothy said, gesturing to some chairs. Martha and Romana did as they were told. Once they were comfortable enough, Romana started questioning Dorothy. They were both tired and they needed answers, hopefully this woman would accommodate them both.

" You've travelling in the TARDIS, haven't you ?" Romana asked.

Dorothy looked at Romana, and Martha got the impression very little could surprise this woman. But clearly Romana's had thrown her off balance.

" How do you know that ?"

Romana took a deep breath, " I'm a Time lord. Time is my business."

Dorothy nodded, " You're right, I did travel with the Doctor in the TARDIS, back when he was a short geezer with an umbrella."

Romana nodded, she had this woman pinned down. " The seventh Doctor. You travelled with him." Romana smirked and added, " Ace."

Dorothy chuckled, " I guess he told you about that." It wasn't a question.

Romana shrugged, a smirk on her face, " Believe me Ace, I know lots of things."

Martha was getting confused again, " I'm sorry, but Ace ?"

" Ace" smirked, " It's a kind of nickname I made for myself." the woman looked down at her hands, " I hated my life. I grew up in Perivale, the shit hole of the universe. I found consolation in chemistry." Then she got up, " I had a friend, Manisha. She was a great mate, we did everything together. But she had problems, a bunch of racist thugs were harassing the family. One night her family were bombed, a petrol bomb through her letterbox."

" Oh my god !" Martha clamped a hand over her mouth in horror.

Romana shook her head and closed her eyes, Humans. Only this time she was sickened by the pigheadedness of the Human race, the lack of brain power of bigotry. It reminded her of the xenophobia of the Time lords. This was too close to home for her.

Ace nodded, rage started to burn in her eyes, " I went after 'em, then I bombed them with Nitro Nine."

" Nitro nine ?"

Ace was about to explain but Romana interjected, " Nitro nine, it's a variant of nitro-glycerine. Nitro nine a, much more powerful."

Ace smirked at Romana, " You have done your homework. But you need to answer some questions from me. I thought you Time lords were supposed to stop things like this from happening. Why is the Master doing this ?"

Any cheerfulness from Romana faded at the reminder, " The Master can get away with it because there is a grand total of three Time lords left, including the Master. The rest are gone, dead. Gallifrey is gone. Skaro is gone."

" Skaro ?" Ace asked, " The home planet of the Daleks ?"

" Hold on, you know the Daleks ?" Martha asked.

" Know them ? I blew 'em up," Ace replied grinning.

Ace turned back to Romana, " So what happened ?"

For the next half hour, Romana told Ace what had happened to her race, the Time war, how it began, how the Daleks kept adapting to each change in history, how they'd overrun the Time lords and their most mightiest symbols.

Romana told Ace about how the Council had brought the Master back, how the selfish bastard ran off and hid at the end of the universe.

By the time Romana had finished, Ace was silent. Then she got up and paced up and down. Now she understood the problem and the fact they would get no outside help, Ace was starting to make plans.

" The Archangel network, you said it was a telepathic field, that it forced the people to vote for the Master ?" Ace asked Romana.

Romana nodded, wondering where Ace was heading with this. Ace continued, " I think I have an answer. I've spoken to some of the kids I work with, that and using some alien technology I scavenged from the Torchwood institute."

" Torchwood ?" Romana and Martha asked together. Whilst they'd been travelling they'd come across Jack's team in the Himalayas. They'd given the two women the basics of its history, how the Doctor had pissed off Queen Victoria, who'd banished him and his companion, who happened to be Rose Tyler.

Romana had actually found them incredibly nice people, even though she'd been dismayed to hear about the acquisitive nature of Torchwood London.

Ace nodded, " I take it you've heard of them. Anyways, I found out about them when I left the Professor, the Doctor, " she added when she saw the confusion on Martha's face, " I broke in, and using a pocket scanner I'd picked up from the future I was able to identify the bits and pieces. Imagine my shock when I hacked into their records and found out that the Doctor had pissed off Queen Vic."

" I don't want to imagine it Ace, " Romana said wryly.

Martha and Ace laughed at the Time lady.

Romana shrugged, " So, you broke inside Torchwood, hacked into their computers and then stole their stolen technology and made this organisation ?"

" Not quite," Ace said, " I created this organisation and its resources, not just to combat famine and homelessness. That was only the basic part."

Suddenly Romana understood, " You mean you wanted to emulate the Doctor and Torchwood ?"

Ace nodded, " Torchwood, whilst it had a nasty belief that all aliens were aggressors, did do some good work. They've stopped dozens of invasions, alien plagues that UNIT and the Doctor didn't even know about. I wanted to do something similar. That's what I've been doing all over the world, helping people in trouble and also investigating the odd and the unexplained."

" So you're like a detective ?" Martha asked smiling.

" Yes," Ace replied. " Not only am I, or was in this case, a business woman, I'm also an ex TARDIS traveller and an alien and supernatural investigator."

Romana broke in, " How much do you know about the Archangel network ?"

" I know enough about it. Come over here." she led the two women over to where a laptop was working. Martha gazed at the screen.

" How did you get that working ? Laptops don't work anymore."

The Master had shut down the internet, the TV stations, even radios. That way the population wouldn't hear about anything except from rumours and hearsay. Knowledge was power, and the Master wanted to break them of that.

Ace looked back at Martha, " I adjusted it with alien tech, when I did that I found that it was more powerful. I used it to study the archangel network and also anything else that was weird. I found it was broadcasting a telepathic signal. At first I thought it was a side effect of the technology used by the network."

" But then you realised it wasn't ?" Romana asked.

Ace nodded grimly, " I went on a trip to Britain, once there I found out about Harry Saxon. Everyone seemed….hooked on the guy. I checked him out discreetly, using old connections."

" You mean like Sarah Jane Smith ?" Martha asked.

Ace looked at her strangely, " Oh, you've met her ? Yeah, I know her. I keep in touch with her. She gave me access to her files when she heard who I was and how I knew things."

" Does the Master keep an eye on the Doctor's former companions ?" Romana asked Ace. If this girl had access to the any form of information, then they could be at a turning point in their fight against the Master.

Ace shook her head, " I dunno, the Master's files are encrypted. Not even all the computer geniuses put together would be able to crack even the first few digits."

Romana stepped forward, " I'm a Time lord, so is the Master. Let me try."

Ace was about to argue, then decided against it.

Romana worked for about 34 minutes before she gave up, " Argh !" she cursed. " I can't get in, I was hoping the Master would be using a Time lord computer matrix to seal his files. Either he doesn't have any or he doesn't use a computer this laptop can hack into."

Ace glowered at the computer, almost as if it was the laptops fault.

" Okay, that means we have no intelligence except for the workers the stateleader takes from here to work in the shipyards and the state leader's home, like that's gonna help."

Martha couldn't believe this woman, " Excuse me, you're talking about kids in your care."

Ace turned to her, " Keep your hair on. The archangel network doesn't work on kids. I went on a business trip to Britain before the Toclafane invasion. Whilst I was there I found virtually everyone hooked on Harry Saxon. Ok, some politicians have that effect, but not all of them to that extent. The only ones that didn't seemed to be kids."

Romana turned to face Ace properly, " Of course, voters are adults and children don't count because they aren't eligible. The Master was targeting those with well developed minds.

* * *

When the two girls had gotten assurance from Ace that they would be escorted safely out of the state and given shelter and food and water for the night, they were put up for the next 2 days so then they could continue spreading the word. Romana knew Ace would sit in and help, Ace was highly respected and people around here probably knew that she could be trusted.

Romana only hoped that the Master didn't catch wind of this, if he did then Ace was in trouble. The Time lady sensed Martha was still awake, and fretting.

" Alright Martha, what is it ? Why wont you sleep ?"

" Well developed minds, you said." Martha whispered.

Romana sighed as she understood, " Martha, the Master needed a _minority _of the population of Earth to vote for him. Children couldn't vote for him, so he left them alone. The telepathic field generated by Archangel has been changed so then _every_one in the world will be affected. Don't worry Martha, the paln will work."

Martha sighed in relief. So did Romana when the human girl finally fell asleep.


	25. Chapter 25 The Doctor and the Doctor

**The Doctor and the Doctor. **

The Doctor sighed wearily as he sat in his wheelchair. Rose was in the conference room of the Valiant, and just when the Doctor thought that she would leave, she decided to talk to him. The Doctor was tired and just wanted to have a nap, and focus his mental energies on the Archangel Network, but the annoying bitch just wouldn't shut up. The Master, on the other hand, was far too busy with other matters to care what his old friend and enemy was doing with his time. The beauty was the Master nowadays left the Doctor alone, just like the Doctor knew would happen. There was only so much crap that others could deal with, coupled with the possibility someone would cock it up. That was something the Master wouldn't let happen, not by a long shot. It was the Master's conquest, he should take some responsibility, which the deranged Time lord dictator was doing at the moment.

Rose, on the other hand….she played the typical wife that sat around, drinking wine, going shopping - although in Rose's case, that was never going to happen, there weren't any shops with the latest fashions, and besides the Master had forbidden her to leave without his permission.

Rose was sitting on the table, a smile on her face. She was preaching, again, of the greatness of the Master's greatness, and it took the Doctor's self control to stop himself from either falling asleep or shouting at her to shut up. He'd heard it all before from Rose, but the bitch was completely blind to others emotions. Even the beating the Master gave Rose hadn't made her shut up.

" ….and then the Master will rebuild the Eye of Harmony, whatever that is, and then …." Rose said before the Doctor wheezed, " He'll what ? He can't rebuild the Eye !" the Doctor couldn't believe what Rose had just said. There was no possible way the Eye could ever be reconstructed. It was just impossible. Even Romana would have trouble thinking about the theory, and her IQ was, admittedly, higher than his.

Rose looked down her nose at the Doctor, " Why not ? What's the Eye of Harmony ?" her voice showed her lack of curiosity. That was something the Doctor found hard to believe; most people who travelled with him became fascinated with other societies achievements. It was one of the joys of travelling, seeing how other races dealt with problems and formatted their own brand of genius. It was out there.

Rose didn't, she never had. She was one of those who just shrugged at something and took it for granted.

The Doctor explained slowly, " The Eye of Harmony was the power source the Time lords used before the War destroyed my world. It was a black hole, set in a complicated equation against the mass of Gallifrey. The Master couldn't hope to recreate it even if he wanted too,"

Rose sneered, " Why not ?" she asked in a voice that said she was bored.

The Doctor took a breath, he was getting angrier and angrier that even though Rose preached of how the Master would bring the Time lords back, she wasn't interested in their lives and their achievements. He wasn't proud of what they'd become later on, but he was proud of what they had done. That was never going to change. He owed the Time lords of old much, mostly Omega, not Rassilon.

Roses' indifference of the Time lords reminded the Doctor of the way she'd been when they'd travelled together, back then the Doctor had ignored her indifference. She'd ignored the way the Doctor had been sad about the loss of his race, and his sorrow about what he'd needed to do. Rose hadn't cared about that, all she'd cared about was the idea of travelling in time and space, and basically running around and making him out to be a hero.

He should've dumped the bitch back home whilst he'd had the chance. If he had then maybe this wouldn't be happening, not like it was anyway.

" Because, the science and the means where cut off from the Time lord education. Oh, he could try and make it, but it wouldn't work in the long term." The Doctor said simply.

Rose snorted.

" What ?" the Doctor asked. He truthfully didn't care what this bitch thought, but he was curious nonetheless.

" You, you lose hope. The Master doesn't, he actually tries to rebuild your people, and instead of being grateful you -"

The Doctor interrupted heatedly, " Grateful ? For what, murder of innocent people who don't even know why their being slaughtered like animals ? Grateful ? For being enslaved and forced to work in the blood of their families and friends ? Why don't you understand Rose ? The Master is doing this for himself, not for the memory of a race that would never have wanted this. He's doing it for himself."

Rose was silent for a moment, then shook her head and left the room. The Doctor sighed again, he knew that trying to dissuade Rose from this was never going to work, but the Doctor had long since held himself true to morality, and he was too old to give up now. Rose was delusional and the Master had her twisted around his finger.

* * *

Romana and Martha were in San Francisco, sitting inside a hut. The Master had been tremendously harsh with the city, far more than any where else in the world. The whole city looked like ten earthquakes had hit the place, the buildings had toppled over and smashed into the ground. Half of the city had been turned into a shantytown made out of the debris, barrels were opened up to gather rain and be heated by fires.

The rest of the city was where people were forced to break up cars, houses, buildings, anything made of metal. They'd even torn down the golden gate bridge.

The Master had turned the city into a scrap yard, the trains, or what was left of them and the networks, into metal exports. The pieces of metal were taken all over the country where they would be melted down and turned into components for the Master's war machine.

Martha had gasped at the sight of the once beautiful city, the huge chunks that had been torn out of it, and the inhuman and evil way the Master had treated these people. The trainee doctor had spent the last 4 hours helping as many people as she could, but it wasn't easy. The whole of San Francisco had become a police state, the city's commandant had been a singular vicious thug the Master had picked up, but the Master treated him like a puppet.

Romana, on the other hand, had guessed why the Master had done this to the city. It was all to do with the humiliating defeat he'd suffered at the hands of the newly regenerated Eighth Doctor. Romana vaguely remembered the details, but she was aware of the Human allies the Doctor had made in that time.

It was typical of the Master to destroy and punish an entire city for the actions of three people, childish and petty. Two of the Master's fortes.

Romana was helping a young woman feed her battered and bedraggled children when two people came over to them. One was a Chinese man, he was around his twenties. His companion was a still beautiful woman with strawberry blond hair, her face, both their faces infact, were both drawn with fatigue and pain, but Romana saw that whilst they were very tired and could potentially collapse, they kept going.

" Miss Romana ?" the woman asked in a polite voice.

Romana nodded, not trusting where this was going. The rest of the city barely knew they were even there, the fact these two did sent warning bells throughout Romana's body.

" Maybe," Romana whispered, not wanting to alert anyone else.

The Chinaman sighed, " Come on, we saw you on the TV when the Master," the way he spat the word " Master " out of his mouth was almost as if he'd swallowed something bitter but couldn't tell what it was in the first place, " took over."

The woman added hurriedly, " We also saw the Doctor, damn he's…regenerated again."

Romana gasped. As a rule both she and Martha spoke about the Doctor like he was omnipotent and all seeing, but they hadn't told anyone anything about his ability to regenerate. Besides, the Master was hardly likely to inform any of his agents something like this. Why would he ? The Doctor may've been seen by millions, but out of that number only a minority had seen him regenerate. It wouldn't be common knowledge.

Now she placed both of them. " Chang Lee ?" she asked the man, who nodded, surprised she knew of him. Romana turned to regard the woman, " Grace Holloway ?"

Grace smiled, " You know who we are ?"

Romana smiled back, " The Doctor told me about you, about what happened during the Millenium."

" What happened during the Millenium ?" Martha asked, walking over to where they were standing.

Martha looked at the couple, then back towards Romana, " Who're these two ?"

Romana handled the introductions, " Martha Jones, this is Grace Holloway and this is Chang Lee. Grace, Lee, this is Martha Jones, the latest travelling companion of the Doctor."

Martha gaped at them, " You know the Doctor ?"

Grace smiled, but Romana caught the twinge of jealousy, " Yeah, well, when he looked more like a poet."

" And wore a cravat with a green velvet frock coat," Lee added.

Romana explained to Martha, who was looking confused once more, " They're talking about the Eighth Doctor Martha. Grace here was a surgeon, the seventh Doctor was shot in an alleyway and Grace was the doctor who operated on him."

Grace looked down, " I didn't know anything about his anatomy. The operation failed, the Doctor died. Then he changed and came back with a new face, but he was suffering from memory loss."

" Considering he was full of drugs and that he'd undergone a traumatic experience and death, what else would you expect ?" Romana asked. " Anyway, what's been happening in San Francisco ?"

Lee sighed, " The Master's taken delight in bombing the city, Toclafane dive bomb us everyday of the week. We've been forced to build this," he waved his hands, " Mostly because of what we did against the Master."

" Hold on, you fought the Master ?" Martha asked.

Lee snorted, " Not quite." He sighed, then his voice took on a nostalgic whisper, " I was a kid then, running around with gangs, mostly for cash. Then the TARDIS materialised just as I was about to get myself shot, then the Doctor was shot. I called the ambulance because I felt guilty. Yeah, I had a conscience. I was cool with putting myself on the line, but I wouldn't do with others. After I stole the Doctor's stuff, mostly cos I thought he was dead, I went to the TARDIS. I found the Master, waiting for me."

" He'd stolen the body of an ambulance driver, a guy called Bruce. Nice guy. He then revealed who he was, and with the TARDIS bigger on the inside, I couldn't refute the evidence. I may've been a crook, but I wasn't stupid enough to deny the truth of what I saw. Grace here's the sceptic," he added, pointing at the glaring Grace. After chuckling at her indignant expression, he carried on, " The Master told me that the Doctor was evil, that he'd stolen the Master's regenerations. When he told me his body could change 12 times….it blew my mind. I couldn't believe it. But when we went to the Eye of Harmony," Lee was interrupted by Martha.

" The what ?"

" The Eye of Harmony is a black hole in the centre of a TARDIS. It can absorb energy like a battery." Romana explained.

Lee carried on, " We went to the Eye of Harmony, and I saw the change in the Doctor. Seeing him change from a short guy to this tall, elegant man was something. The Master promised me riches if I helped him kidnap the Doctor, and give the regenerations " back " to the Master." Lee made air quotes.

" That's why the Master's being bombing this city, isn't it ? Because of revenge. But how is it you two are friends ?" Martha asked curiously.

Lee smiled, " When we got to the TARDIS, Grace became possessed, don't ask, the Master had a power I don't get. She started helping us. She overpowered the Doctor, and put him in something like a harness. He was ready, but the Doctor wasn't finished. He managed to piss the Master off, making him say, " I have wasted all my lives, because of you Doctor," the Doctor pounced on that, making me see that I'd been duped. The Master snapped my neck when I refused to open the eye."

" He snapped your neck ? But you're…." Martha trailed off, not knowing what to say.

" Still alive ? When I came back to life thanks to the TARDIS, the Doctor basically said the Master had been eaten by the Eye."

Grace frowned, " What I don't get is how he came back."

Romana sighed. She launched herself into an explanation of the Time war, the destruction of the Time lords, the Daleks, and the resurrection of the Master.

" The council brought him back, not realising the consequences. They just wanted to sweep the war under the carpet, thinking the Master would do the job just as well. He ran away, now he's back. The Doctor's a prisoner, Earth is enslaved, and me and Martha are wandering the Earth. Can you help us ?"

Both of them nodded.


	26. Chapter 26 Mount Rushmore

**Mount Rushmore. **

Mount Rushmore, near Keystone, South Dakota, a sculpture made by Gutzon Borglum and later by his son Lincoln. Four of the US presidents were there in the following order - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

But then the Master had invaded the Earth. During the period of the invasion, the Master hadn't just organised his agents into doing the leg work, he'd created " monuments " of his rule. Statues were made of him as he was at that moment in his life. But the ready made statues - the Nelson memorial statue in Trafalgar Square, London, that now bore the Master's face, so did the Sphinx in Egypt, the Statue of Liberty. Every single major landmark with a face now bore the Master's current face.

Mount Rushmore was no exception.

Martha and Romana had travelled from San Francisco, now they were doing to meet a contact here close by. But they'd arrived early, so they took a look around. Then they saw the faces carved on the mountain.

Romana shook her head at her fellow Time lord's egotism, " Egotist."

Martha pointed at the faces, " Are those the Master's previous regenerations ?"

One face was clearly Harold Saxon's, but two of the faces were bearded, one had a slightly demonic quality about the eyes, the face, even carved in the rock the eyes seemed to burn, almost as if even in spirit it was still powerful. The other bearded face was more….insane, it had a more aristocratic appearance to it, but the madness in the eyes was more pronounced. One of the faces seemed….burnt, the skin was corrugated, and even Martha could see the decay. Martha was sure the Master himself had carved himself into the mountain, he'd certainly caught the insanity for them. The decayed one scared Martha more, one of the eyes seemed half open whilst the other was wide open, and blaring with madness that was immortalised in the rock of the former monument.

Romana caught her looking at it, " Yes, they are the Master's previous regenerations." she pointed at the first face, the one with demonic features, " That one is what the Master was when he first arrived on Earth. He fought the Third Doctor for a long time." she pointed towards the decayed one, " Susan told me about that one. She'd destroyed a device of incredible power, the energy destroyed it, and the Master's body. At that point the Master couldn't regenerate since he'd used his previous lives up."

" Is that what happens to Time lords who're careless with their regenerations ?" Martha asked, turning to face Romana.

Romana sighed, " Put it this way, regeneration is like plastic surgery - albeit, more intense, and it's a natural process. There's no going back with it, every time a Time lord regenerates there's a mental shock because the brain is literally torn apart by energy before being put back together again."

Martha looked away, looking wry, " Humpty dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty dumpty had a great fall. all the kings horses, and all the king's men couldn't put humpty together again."

Romana had heard that one, " Yeah, just like that. That's actually a good and accurate analogy," the Time Lady added, " That's what happens when one of us regenerates too often. It wouldn't surprise me if the Master's passed that point already."

" Who's the second bearded one ?" Martha asked, drawing attention back to the statue.

Romana looked solemn, " That, Martha, used to be another person. Consul Tremas of Traken, to be exact. The Master's regeneration cycle had been exhausted, and he fought the Doctor on Gallifrey, but the energy he gathered wasn't enough, not for a new one. But it was enough to keep him alive long enough to hide near another powerful energy source, and he just bided his time. When his plans were exposed and defeated, the Master stole Tremas' body, killing the man."

" He killed a man for a his body ?" Martha asked in horror.

" Yes. The Master's driven to survive, at any costs. He certainly showed that side during the Time war." Romana added, looking angry.

For the next hour neither spoke, but Romana broke the silence, which surprised Martha. Romana wasn't one to talk often.

" I was a student when the Master first attacked Gallifrey, I told you and Sarah that. The fact he did it made me ill, to think that a member of my race, my society, would freely and happily steal our energy…." Romana shook her head then she carried on, " Some of my friends, typical Time lords now I look back, believed we would be better off if the renegades were hunted down and vaporised. But I didn't agree, I thought there must be something more to the universe than Gallifrey."

" How did you feel when you left ?" Martha asked quietly.

Romana chuckled, " I thought it was exciting, but I heard that I would be travelling with the Doctor. By the time of his second visit the Doctor had attracted quite a lot of attention. Rumours of his deeds circulated around the planet, the way he'd sacrificed his third life to stop the Great one, a giant spider, from mentally controlling the universe…it was incredible that one of our own would do something like that."

Romana took a sip from her flask, " Hearing about these things made many Time lords start to see the universe differently. Let me tell you a story…it was a long time ago…."

"…_**..when the Doctor was in his third life. He was currently exiled to Earth for interfering in the affairs of other races. He had been finishing off from his first meeting with the Daleks in that body….."**_

1970s, UNIT H.Q, back in time

The Doctor was sitting alone in the TARDIS lounge. It was the only place he could get any reasonable peace and quiet from people like Jo Grant and the Brigadier. He needed time to think, and to do that he needed to be alone. He needed to wrap his head around the recent events.

The meeting with the Daleks, and seeing what they'd done to the Earth had brought back many memories of the Daleks mainstream invasion of Earth. But seeing those people, old and as young as 3, wearing rags, as thin as rakes, hauling buckets of minerals, being bullied by Human collaborators made him sicker than his first incarnation had when he'd seen the mine in Bedfordshire. The return of the Daleks had shocked the Doctor, but then again his second self shouldn't have written them off during that mess with the humanised Daleks.

The Daleks were like cockroaches, they always came back. They certainly did that with his first life, coming back on Earth, during that Chase from Aridius all the way to Mechanus, that mess with Mavic Chen and the Time destructor. The Doctor needed to make new priorities, first of all he needed to work out a way of restoring his TARDIS back to full working order, which wasn't going to be simple with their programming of the dematerialisation computer, a problem that he'd discovered during that business with the Axons. Ironically, the dematerialisation circuit wasn't an issue anymore, thanks to the Master.

The Doctor made a face at the thought of his old enemy. The Master was presently imprisoned on that island, but the Doctor knew it wouldn't last. The Master was no average criminal, he would find some way of getting out, either by accident or by subterfuge. It would happen, and the Doctor had made it clear to the Brigadier that the Master shouldn't be treated like a common thug, that he was a Time lord, that he could think himself into a plan to get himself out and regain his freedom. As usual, the Brigadier hadn't listened to him, even though he knew enough to know the Doctor was right.

But more pressing was where the Master had hidden his TARDIS. The Doctor had spent 3 weeks searching for it, both in Devils' end and in other places, but he hadn't had much luck. The Doctor hated that aspect about chameleon circuits, they always made it difficult for another Time lord to recognise another of their races time machines.

The Doctor was so engrossed in his troubles that it took him a while to hear the familiar and heartbreaking sound of a TARDIS, only this one was much smoother. The Doctor turned, and saw at once that ridiculous and pompous member of the High council, the one who'd warned him about the Master when the former had arrived on Earth for the first time in time for the second Nestene invasion.

" Ah Doctor, good of you to be present." he smiled, only there was a shadow in his eyes.

The Doctor rubbed a hand over his eyes, " This isn't a good time, you'd have thought being a Time lord would've granted you a sense of timing."

" It's going to have to be, I'm afraid. There won't be any of that - how do those humans say it ? Ah, yes, any chit chat. Another old friend is on Earth."

The Doctor caught the other Time lords face, noting the expression and realising it was far from good news.

" Who is it ?" he asked quietly, images of the Rani or the Meddling Monk springing to mind, but the Time lords reply took him by surprise.

" Athena."

Back in the present.

" Who's Athena ?" Martha asked curiously.

Romana sighed, " Athena was a Time lady, a prodigy. She had incredible mental powers, mathematical prowess that could literally reprogram suns and the cosmos. She'd been locked up, " for her own good " it was said. But people like the Doctor wasn't so sure. It didn't help that her powers changed…."

1970s.

" Athena ?" the Doctor whispered, recalling the quiet and troubled Time lady who'd attended the academy the same time he had. Because he was an outcast as well, they were kindred spirits. But they'd lost track of one another.

" What about her ?" he added to the other.

Without his signature and irritating smirk, the Time lord looked solemn, " She has escaped Gallifrey, Doctor."

" You mean escaped being locked up, called a freak by her own kind, abandoned and alone don't you ?" the Doctor sneered; Athena wasn't like normal Time lords, that was why she'd been abused for so long. Instead of having a TARDIS, Athena could literally cross the distance with her mind, something the Time lords had been trying to gain for centuries, but the Doctor somehow knew it wouldn't happen. He knew when something was best left alone, but it was a pity the other Time lords couldn't see that.

Athena's mental abilities were also beyond amazing and bordered dangerously close to dangerous, she could literally shatter moons, cause solar storms, accelerate time around herself. The Doctor had lost track of Athena years ago, but he'd tried looking for her because she hated Gallifrey, more than he had. She hated the Time lords for what they'd done to her, for never leaving her alone. All Athena wanted, truly wanted, was to be left alone, to have a nice and quiet life somewhere else. But the Time lords still persecuted her, more than they did him.

The Time lord wasn't having that, " Now see here -"

" No, you see here, you listen to me, Athena is harmless when left alone, I tried arguing that case, but the council wouldn't listen to me. She's running because she's frightened. Why can't you simply leave her alone ?"

The Time lord ignored the question, and carried on as if he hadn't been interrupted, " Athena is on Earth, Doctor. She knows you're here. When she makes contact, call us and we shall take care of it."

" Why should I do that ?" the Doctor asked.

The Time lord smiled, " Because if you don't, then your freedom will never be restored."

" Maybe Athena and I will travel together. She has that ability." the Doctor informed him. " Don't ever bribe me with my freedom again, "

With the smile still on his face, the Time lord told him, " Athena may not be in any condition for that, Doctor. Her powers are killing her."

" How ?" the Doctor breathed.

" We don't know."

The Doctor had been around Time lords long enough to know when they lied, and this one was, besides he wasn't very good at it.

" What did the council have those scientists do to her ?" he asked. " Tell me !"

The Time lord didn't reply, instead he disappeared. The Doctor cursed.

The Brigadier walked into the lab the next morning, followed by Captain Yates, a sheaf of folders in her arms, " Doctor, we've just got a report of strange creatures attacking people in London,"

The Doctor looked up from his work, " What kind of creatures ?"

Ever since the visit from the Time lord, the Doctor had started paying more and more attention to anything abnormal.

" That's just it, we don't know. There was no warning, but there was a small report of a woman being harassed because of her strange clothes.

" Strange clothes ? Do you have a description, or at least a picture ?" the Doctor asked frantically.

Surprised, the Brigadier turned to Captain Yates, who was just as surprised, " Show him the picture, Captain."

Yates handed the Doctor a photograph. It was quite grainy, but the Doctor could see that it was enough. The woman was dressed in long, flowing robes of what he could tell in a black and white photo as scarlet robes. He also recognised the pattern.

Yates couldn't help but comment, " Strange outfit."

That comment was enough to set the Doctor off, " Captain Yates, those are Time lord robes. That woman is a Time lady from my planet. And If I were you, I'd keep your stupid Human comments to yourself. Athena deserves more than that ? Where is she ?"

" Athena ? You mean you know her ?" the Brigadier asked, taken aback by the vehemence from the Doctor.

The Doctor closed his eyes, " Yes, I do. She attended the same academy I did when we were younger. Where is she ?"

Yates, still reeling from his telling off, cleared his throat, " We didn't get a positive report, but she's said to be in Tower hill."

" How do you know this woman, Doctor ?" the Brigadier asked as he, the Doctor, Sergeant Benton and Captain Yates sat in a UNIT jeep, speeding all the way to Tower hill.

The Doctor sighed, " Like I said Brigadier, me and Athena attended the Time lord academy on Gallifrey. We were outcasts, not seen as true members of our race."

" Why not ?"

" It's complicated," The Doctor said in a drop it voice. But the Brigadier wanted answers. The Doctor admitted, " Me and Athena….we weren't like the rest of our people. We weren't interested in sitting back and letting everything come to us. We wanted change, especially Athena. The way her instructors treated her…..she was gifted, I can tell you that, but she didn't really care about learning. But somehow she was able to pass her examinations. But her mental abilities enabled her to do things no one else could."

" Why would she be outcast for that ?" Yates asked.

" Why do humans shun people for unusual talents ?" the Doctor shot back, " The more advanced a culture, the more prejudicial it becomes. The Time lords have been the same for ten million years, which is how long they've been around, keeping an eye on everything."

" Ten million…." the Brigadier was staggered by the figure.

The Doctor nodded at him, understanding his disbelief. He could scarcely believe it himself at times. But he changed the subject back to Athena.

" Athena can rewrite reality, time, space and matter, its all hers to control. The Time lords can do that, but with technology, not the mind. She was considered a freak back home, it didn't help matters that certain people experimented on her for their own ends."

" Experimented ? Your people would do that ?" the Brigadier asked in horror, sympathy for this woman filling him.

The Doctor sighed, " The High council denied it, but I know them better than they think. The double dealing back stabbers…."

It took another 20 minutes before the jeep arrived at the destination. And they all noticed the differences. Tower hill now looked grander, almost as if someone had replaced the monument with a medieval castle out of their own fantasies. What looked like dragons were over flying the tallest tower, with dark grey clouds overhead. It reminded the UNIT people of the fairy tales they'd heard when they were children. The Doctor noticed that the police and even some soldiers were holding people back.

The Doctor shook his head in bemusement as he studied the new additions, " Typical Athena, she always one for mythology."

" How do we get there ?"

The Doctor looked the Brigadier straight in the eye, " No, I am going in there. Athena knows me, and she knows I wont hurt her. If you go in there with big booted soldiers, then the results will be severe. I mean it Brigadier, Athena is like a child. But I can help her."

Almost on cue, a dragon came swooping down and breathed fire all over the place. But the flames didn't even reach the ground. Of all the UNIT people, only the Doctor wasn't surprised. Nor was he startled by the dragon landing in front of him, and speaking to him.

" _Come to me, Doctor." _

The dragon bent its head down and the Doctor got on its back before anyone could stop him.

As the dragon flew, the Doctor had to admit he was amazed by the way the creature, illusion or not, flew with beating wings, and yet there was little or no sensation.

The dragon deposited him in what looked like a park, with a swing and a slide. A woman wearing long robes was sitting on the swing, her eyes wide and slightly mad under the power she held inside her.

The Doctor walked over to her, pity filling him. Athena looked like she was on the verge of collapse, she looked physically sick, and the scope of the reality illusion around him was breathtaking.

" Doctor." Athena said in greeting, her voice trembling under the power of her mind.

" Athena," the Doctor said neutrally with pity lacing his tone, knowing his old friend was reading his mind, but he wasn't going to try and block her, not when she had the power to shred his mind to ribbons and then shred them again.

" Did you like my dragon ?" Athena asked, smiling like a childlike adult.

" I enjoyed the ride, thank you. What did they do to you ?" the Doctor asked, hoping to find out what the Time lords had done this time.

Athena was silent for a moment, her bulging eyes narrowing in both anger and fear, " They wired me into a TARDIS matrix, hoping to use the matrix to contain my powers making it easier for them to experiment on me. It didn't work as they'd hoped, they were too arrogant. I absorbed the matrix in my brain, doubling the strain already on my mind. I spent the last year trying to control it."

" You know you can't do that," the Doctor protested, " The TARDIS matrix is 11 dimensional, the power would not just kill you, it would overwhelm you."

" They knew that, but they didn't care. They weren't helping me, really. They were turning me into a weapon, Rassilon knows whyyyyy !" she finished with a cry, golden light escaping from her mouth. The Doctor moved forward, racking his mind for any clue of how he could help her, but he came up with nothing.

" Stay back !" Athena choked out, more artron energy leaving her body.

Still choking, Athena shook her head, " I'm dying, Doctor. There's nothing you or I can do about that. Frankly, I don't want to be saved."

" You can't mean that !" the Doctor snapped, hating the Time lords for the evil they'd put her through, but knowing there was nothing he could do.

Athena sent him a look, and the Doctor quieted.

" Don't be naïve, you know I'm dying. Frankly I'm tired, tired of life and being hurt and hunted by the Time lords, my own race and being shunned by everyone, including my family. I'm tired of it Doctor, I can't go on." tears trickled down her face.

" But you can't die," the Doctor insisted, hoping to change her mind. But he knew it wouldn't happen.

Athena closed her eyes, allowing more tears too be squeezed out, " I can't go on." she repeated, before opening her eyes.

" I suppose they told you, my powers are killing me. My brain is shutting down under the stress, we weren't meant to do this, the adding that matrix to my troubles makes things worse. I can't regenerate, my body energy's burnt out and added onto my pain."

The Doctor shook his head, knowing he couldn't win.

" What do you want me to do ?"

" Sit with me," more tears from the Time lady. " I'm scared."

Athena conjured another swing, and the Doctor sat down on it, finally realising why his old friend was conjuring so more and altering reality. She was trying to commit suicide.

The Doctor accepted the reality he could do nothing, so he held out his hand, offering it towards Athena. The Time lady stared at it before giving her own hand over to him.

On the outside, everyone saw the tower return to normal, the dragons and ominous clouds vanish. Every change, every creature that Athena had created had faded.

The Brigadier was about to order them to storm the place, when Benton pointed, " Look sir. It's the Doctor."

It was indeed the Doctor, the Brigadier saw, recognising the cape. He was carrying a woman, wearing long flowing red robes.

The Doctor's face was sorrowful.

It didn't get any better, the Brigadier was outside UNIT HQ, watching the Doctor as he set fire to the pyre he'd built for Athena. When the Time lord walked back over to him, the Brigadier asked.

" Why burn her body ? We could've buried her."

The Doctor shook his head, " No, a Time lord body's a miracle. There are empires out there," he added looking up into the starry sky. " that would tear a planet like this for one cell. I'm not letting that happen to Athena."

The Brigadier went silent when he saw the Doctor's resolve.

Back in the present.

" The Time lords weren't happy when they heard about Athena, but there was nothing that they could do about it." Romana said, gazing into Martha's brown orbs. " He never found out the full extent of the experiments carried out on Athena."

Martha shuddered, wondering how any one from a supposedly civilised race could do that. As she did she wondered about the Master, and his role in the War with the Daleks. The Time lords seemed prone to prejudice and making mistakes that were costly.

She only hoped this latest one with the Master wouldn't kill her race.


	27. Chapter 27

**Return to Britain. **

Martha and Romana got out of the boat that had brought them to the shoreline, and they ran towards the man holding the lantern, ignoring as best they could the freezing water that slowed them down as they both raced for the beach where the man was standing, swinging the lantern.

" What's your name, then ?" Martha asked when they got close. He was taller than Martha, and was unshaven, which wasn't a big surprise. The Master's conquest of the Earth had forced the surviving Humans to forgo their own hygiene. After a while, you got used to the stench.

The man replied, " Tom Milligan. No need to ask who you two are, the famous Martha Jones and Romana, sorry I didn't catch-" he asked looking at the silent figure of Romana, clearly trying to get her last name, thinking she was a Human.

" I don't have a second name," Romana said, looking down, " not anymore." Romana closed her eyes, memories of her family and home planet filling her brain like no ones business.

Tom nodded in what he thought was understanding, " You mean the Master murdered your family, like mine and thousands of others ?"

Romana was furious by his insular assumption, and she glared at him, " No, my family died a long time ago. The Master," she spat the name, " had nothing to do with it." Romana looked murderous.

Tom was taken aback, and he held up his hands, " Ok, ok, sorry I asked."

Mollified, Romana apologised.

Tom changed the subject when it looked like Romana wouldn't lose her temper, " How long has it been since you were last in Britain ?" he asked Martha, changing the subject.

" 364 days. It's been a long year." Martha said, looking wry at how long it had been as if she still couldn't believe it had been that long. Romana knew how she felt, as a Time lady she was aware of the passing of time, but this year had felt more like a thousand years of constant running, constant danger, and constant fear of being captured and tortured by the Master. Romana, on the other hand, knew that if the evil Time lord got his grubby hands on her, her fate would be worse than Martha's. Becoming a brood mare wasn't what she'd imagined when she'd met the Doctor again after the war, not unless it was with the Doctor that is.

As they walked away from the beach, Tom had to ask a question which sounded like it was on the lips of everyone, " So what's the plan ?"

Still walking, Martha replied, " This professor Docherty. We need to see her. Can you take us there ?"

Tom nodded, " She works in a repair shed, nuclear plant 7. I can get you inside. What's this all for ? What's so important about her ?"

Romana replied to that one, feeling a bit ashamed for her reaction earlier, " Sorry. The more you know, the more you're at risk. We're so close now, and if anything goes wrong," she sighed, her eyes older than they had been earlier, Tom was astonished by the change. " If anything goes wrong, the Master will be in charge for a long, long time."

Tom nodded, disturbed by the concept. " There's a lot of people depending on you two. You're a bit of a legend, the pair of you." He told them, changing the subject again.

Both Romana and Martha had heard about the legends that surrounded them, and they terrified them both because with so many people banking on their successes if anything went wrong all hope would fade.

" What does the legend say ?" Martha asked neutrally, wanting to get the interpretation from the man now helping them see Docherty.

Tom seemed surprised they didn't know, but carried on regardless, " That you sailed the Atlantic, walked across America, that you were the only people to get out of Japan alive." Milligan didn't notice them wince at the memories that conjured. The horrors of Japan haunted them both, especially Romana, who carried the pain of the Time war on her shoulders.

" Martha Jones and Romana, they say, their gonna save the world." Milligan became despondent, " A bit late for that."

Both women didn't like the sound of that, they'd been travelling around the world for so long that they hadn't thought what was happening in the country where it had all started, but they'd hoped the people here would be hopeful for it all to change, to never happen. If Tom was anything to go by, then it all seemed like a waste of time.

They walked up to the jeep waiting for them. " How come you can drive ? Don't you get stopped ?" Martha asked.

In countries like America and Australia, size was a great benefit because the Toclafane patrols could only cover so much, and as a result many people still owned cars, vans and lorries, using them to ferry people to places where Humans can still be free, if they could call it that. Supplies were also helped by the cars in those two counties, and since those two countries meant covering lots of ground, the Toclafane left them alone, besides the Master saw no problem in allowing people to smuggle decent food and water into the work camps. People with vehicles took advantage of that. But in smaller countries, it was much harder because there was less ground, and since the remote areas had been searched and patrolled, with work camps set up there wasn't that many places to hide from the dive-bombing spheres.

Milligan supplied the answer, " Medical staff. Used to be in paediatrics back in the old days." Milligan added, sounding reminiscent, almost as if speaking about another previous life he'd had centuries ago, and wished his life was just as ordinary, and not the unrelenting nightmare it was now.

" But that gives me a license to travel so I can help out in the labour camps."

Romana approved of that. She'd been expecting to walk across country, but this was an unexpected turn of luck, she was starting to warm to this man.

Martha felt the same, but for different reasons, " Great. I'm travelling with a doctor." she said as they opened the doors and got in. As they settled down in their seats, waiting for Milligan to start the jeep, he said,

" Story goes that you two are the only people who can kill him. That you two and only you two can kill the Master stone dead."

Neither girls liked that observation. Martha disliked the idea of taking a life, she was a doctor, a medical practitioner, a healer. She was supposed to save lives, not take them. Romana, on the other hand, was different. The past year, she'd been aware of the Master's consciousness, and it made her jumpy. But she liked the knowledge she hadn't been the only child of Gallifrey too escape the carnage of the Final Days of the Time War. The prospect, the very idea of taking another Time lord's life at this point was repugnant, even if the Master did deserve it.

Keeping her voice level was an achievement for Martha as she turned to face Milligan, not confirming the rumour either way, " Let's just drive."

* * *

The Master's statue towered over them as they walked across to where the shipyard was. Martha looked up at it, disdain in her voice, " All over the earth, those things. He's even carved himself into Mount Rushmore." she added, remembering vividly seeing the Master's many faces, unable to get out her mind that demonic face of his, the madness in the second bearded face, or the wide eyed mania of the deformed Master.

Tom lead them both towards a cliff, overlooking one of the shipyards. " Best to keep down. Here we go." he whispered as they peered over the edge. As they'd travelled around the world they'd witnessed the steady production of the war rockets. Now, the number was nearly completed, 200.000 ships, set to burn across the universe. Martha and Romana had gone out their way to avoid the shipyards, preferring to spend their time with the slave labour that built them.

Tom summarised for them, even though they both knew it, " The entire South coast of England converted into shipyards." he whispered, his eyes raking the immaculately laid out rockets, the sun shining on the red and white paint on their hulls. " They bring in slave labour every morning, breaking up cars, houses, anything, just for the metal. Building the fleet out of scrap."

Romana took a pair of binoculars out from her backpack, the lenses specially tinted for a task like this. She used them to view the construction. From an environmentalist point of view, it was a radical way of reusing valuable metals, besides mining would take too long, and the Master wasn't renowned for his patience. The Time lady listened to Martha's conversation with Tom, " You should see Russia." the young woman's voice was wry and dark as she recalled the massive fleet yard. " That's shipyard number one. All the way from the Black sea to the Bering Strait, there's 100.000 rockets getting ready for war."

" War ? With who ?" Milligan asked, making the girls realise that he hadn't bothered to ask why the Master had enslaved the whole Human race, forcing them to build these warships, it obviously never occurred to him that there was more beyond the atmosphere than the solar system.

Martha was exasperated, " The rest of the universe." she replied like it was obvious. For Romana and Martha, and for the other companions of the Doctor, it was indeed obvious.

Martha carried on, realising this wasn't the time to sugarcoat the truth, " I've been out there, Tom, in space, before all this happened, and there's 1,000 different civilisations all around us with no idea of what's happening here."

Romana snorted, " There's more than that out beyond that, Martha."

Tom looked to towards the woman, " You know about this ? This isn't some kind of joke ?"

" Why do you think the Master's got everyone building these rockets, for fun ?" Romana asked, not taking her eyes off the rockets.

Martha carried on, her voice a whisper, " The Master can build weapons big enough to devastate them all."

That wasn't an exaggeration, with the Master's knowledge of warfare and weapons, nothing could stop him from destroying vast areas of space where any of his potential enemies and threats to his power could cause him trouble in the future.

Tom sounded disbelieving, " You've both been in space ?"

Martha retorted, " Problem with that ?"

Tom replied quickly, sounding more like a guy trying to pacify a lunatic, " No ! No, just...wow. Anything else I should know ?"

" I've met Shakespeare."

Romana turned with a smirk, " I've met Leonardo Davinci, nice man."

Before the astonished Tom Milligan could respond the familiar whirl of the Toclafane caught them by surprise. Quickly, the two girls went into the perception mode, concentrating on remaining hidden from the spheres. Fortunately, Milligan himself provided the cover, he scrambled back to his feet as they came closer.

Tom expected to be blasted to smithereens, and he wondered why the Toclafane hadn't noticed the girls. Luckily, the spheres weren't in a murderous mood, but that could change soon. It all depended on the way he approached them.

One of them spoke, "_ Identify, little man."_

" I've got a licence." Tom cried desperately, hoping he wasn't going to die, but banking on it at the same time. He held the licence in question up for the spheres to see, " Thomas Milligan, peripatetic medical squad. I'm allowed to travel. I was just checking for..."

The sphere said in its high pitched voice, " _Soon the rockets will fly_ !"

The second sphere added, " _And everyone will need medicine ! You'll be so busy_ !" Laughing, both spheres flew over them, and towards the shipyard on their patrol.

Tom looked towards the two girls, who were both coming out of their statue postures.

" But...they didn't see you."

Both girls took out the pieces of string where the perception filters were. " How do you think we travelled the world ?" Martha asked.

As they walked back towards the jeep, Martha explained, Romana wasn't going to waste her breath, her mind was on other things.

" The Master set up Archangel, that mobile phone network, 15 satellites around the planet. But really it's transmitting this low level psychic field."

Romana added helpfully, " Which is how he managed to hypnotise everyone into believing he was Harold Saxon. That's why everyone voted for him without thinking much about it."

Tom looked like he was remembering a dim memory, "Saxon ! Feels like years ago."

Martha carried on with the explanation, seeing how her friend was in too much thought to answer at the moment, " But the key's tuned in the same frequency. Makes us sort of, not invisible, just unnoticeable."

Romana rolled her eyes at the crude explanation.

Tom pointed out the obvious, " Well, I can see you."

" Only cause we wanted you to notice us." Romana added in again.

* * *

Nuclear Plant seven, like all other plants, were reserved for technical use. The Master had set scientists up for building elaborate new instruments of mass destruction for his war fleet, but in reality they were for low level maintenance. The Toclafane did patrol nearby, but they weren't as intense as they were with the shipyards.

Taking out a pair of heavy duty wire cutters from his jeep, Milligan cut a hole in the fence, large enough for them to climb through. Running towards a door, they managed to get inside without any sphere noticing them.

They found Docherty, a middle-aged and intelligent woman hunched over a television set, trying to repair it. It didn't look like she was having much luck, if the cursing and hitting the piece of junk was anything to go by.

" Professor Docherty ?" Tom asked.

" Busy." the reply was both brisk and distracted.

" They sent word ahead. I'm Tom Milligan. This is Martha Jones and Romana." Tom said, adding the last part as if the two girls were both celebrities.

Docherty didn't care, but then again that was the mission the girls knew about. They knew that the professor was an agent for the Master, but not a willing one.

" They can be the Queens of England and Sheba for all I care, I'm still busy." Docherty said, still fiddling around with the TV set.

Martha pointed towards the set, " Televisions don't work anymore."

Docherty gave up, slouching over the desk she was working at, " Oh, God, I miss Countdown." she said with the air of a woman who was on the verge of giving up, Romana got the impression she was just putting them off the fact she was trying to gather information for the Master.

Docherty carried on, unaware of the Time Ladies' thoughts, " Never been the same since Des took over. Both Deses." Docherty looked curious for a moment, thinking about what she'd just said.

" What's the plural for Des ? Desii ? Deseen ?"

Romana caught the look her compatriots shared; they clearly thought the professor was a lunatic.

Then Docherty changed her image for something a bit more logical, more alert. She went back to fiddling with the set, trying to get it working, and trying to put them off track.

" But we've been told there's gonna be a transmission. From the man himself."

She hit the set, at around the same time Romana subtly pointed her sonic screwdriver at the set, she wanted to hear what the Master was going to say this time.

The screen came alive, " There !" Docherty exclaimed, happy with her work.

The picture was blurry, but the Master's arrogant face, and equally arrogant voice came through over the TV loud and clear.

" _My people ! Salutations ! On this, the eve of war. Lovely woman," _ the Master added as an afterthought, cementing the knowledge in Romana's mind he was just like the Doctor in this new incarnation of his, and chilling her with it as well. The Master carried on with his speech, " _But I know there's all sorts of whispers down there, stories of children walking the Earth, giving you hope." _

Romana and Martha felt indignation about the dismissive way the Master said that about them, but they both caught the way he said hope. The message was clear; _you've got nothing, I'm in charge. No one's gonna save your worthless hides._

The Master carried on, moving away from the camera, and bringing attention to the woman standing close behind him. Both girls watching felt rage grip them; Rose was still being well fed, well sheltered whilst hero own species beneath her feet were starving, struggling to survive the cold and the threat of the Toclafane.

The camera focused on the withered form of the Doctor, who looked old and wrinkled in his suit, but there was still a fire in the old man, a spirit that would never vanish. Romana felt her hearts seize on this image, she felt lifted to see he was still kicking.

" _But I ask you, how much hope has this man got ?"_ The Master asked, walking to stand behind the Doctor, " _Say hello, Gandalf !" _The Master said to the Doctor, but all he did was look up defiantly into the screen. Martha was furious, and one look into Romana's face told her her friend was just as angry about the way the Doctor was being mocked like she was.

The Master, unaware and uncaring of how the two watchers were feeling, ploughed on with his monologue, " _Except he's not that old, but he's an alien with a much greater lifespan than you, stunted little apes."_ The Master spat contemptuously into the camera.

" _What if it showed ?" _Turning to the still seated Doctor, he asked, " _What if I suspend your capacity to regenerate ?"_ The Master asked, holding something Romana was sure was the laser screwdriver. Martha gulped in fear, knowing she wasn't going to like this; in truth, she knew little about regeneration, but from what she gathered it wasn't an easy or smooth process. One look into the horrified face Romana had at the moment proved that.

Romana couldn't believe the Master would and could do something like that, but then she realised he'd been set up by the Doctor. Clearly the other Time lord had done something to annoy the Master and make him mad enough to do something like this, but Romana was sure that suspending the Doctor's regenerative ability was part of the plan. She was so caught up with her own hypothesis that she needed to tune back into the scene on the camera.

"..._Doctor, what if we could see them ?"_

Flicking the laser screwdriver, the Master pointed it, and at once the Doctor screamed in pain. As he screamed, twisting in the impact of the genetic changes on his body, the Master said tauntingly, " _Older and older and older. Down you go, Doctor ! Down, down. Down the years.."_

Romana had to control herself from screaming in rage and horror about the pain the man she loved more than life itself being tortured like this, so she settled for squeezing her fists instead, the nails rupturing her skin in the process, but she didn't care. Martha couldn't believe how anyone that claimed to love the Doctor like Rose did would just stand back and watch, showing that she didn't care about the Doctor, that what she said was just deluded words.

By this time, the Doctor had fallen out of his chair, and he seemed to be...shrinking...smaller and smaller...

Finally the Master stopped, and walked towards the pile that was the Doctor's clothes. " _Doctor_ ?" The Master asked.

Tears began to sting Romana's eyes. Please, no not him too... ?

Finally, after an agonising age that seemed like decades, a small domed head peaked out of the shirt on the ground, the face a warped and aged version of the Tenth Doctor.

Martha turned to face Romana, who was starting at the screen with relief, delight and astonishment. Their eyes met, and Martha gestured, her body language acted as if they were speaking, _Can that happen ?_

Romana knew that regeneration was dangerous, but if a Time lord condemned himself to live in anyone body, then they would be forced to regenerate. Considering the number of centuries the Doctor could live now the original limitations of regeneration had been lifted with the destruction of Gallifrey, if the Doctor condemned himself to live in just one body to commit suicide, then this could happen. Until now it had only been theoretical about what could happen in such an instance.

In reply, Romana shrugged. On the screen, the Master himself was stunned, adding credence to Romana's thought.

He spoke into the camera, his voice contemptuous, "_ Received and understood, Miss Jones, Lady Romana ?"_

As soon as the camera and TV turned themselves off from the other end, breaking their connection, Tom turned his head towards Martha.

" I'm sorry."

Romana's heartfelt voice wasn't what Tom expected to hear, " The Doctor's still alive."


	28. Chapter 28 The Truth of the Toclafane

Disclaimer - Whoever says we fanfiction authors make cash on this site is an idiot. If we did, then we'd be richer than rich. I don't own Doctor Who, but if I did then Romana and the Rani will be coming back.

**The Truth of the Toclafane.**

" Some sort of magnetic clamp," Docherty whispered as she worked on the outer shell of the Toclafane they'd brought down. Romana couldn't help but feel smug that they'd brought this information even though it hadn't been their intention. Recovering that disc had been a stroke of luck when Martha and her had travelled across Africa.

Up close the Toclafane itself wasn't very threatening; it was more like a metallic basketball in size, but everyone knew that these things were responsible for the Master's swift takeover of Earth. Romana frowned when Docherty made that comment about magnetic clamps, and it made her want to take out her sonic screwdriver and do the work herself, but she decided against it. Sonic screwdrivers were alien technology, Docherty and Milligan would certainly question it. With the Master's launch date so close now Romana didn't want to risk it unless she had to.

Docherty was straining to open the shell, " Hold on, I'll just trip the..." Finally she opened the shell, putting her tools down and opening the shell, like the petals of a flower. When Docherty lifted the casing, she gasped, " Oh my god!" Moving back in shock - genuine shock, the Master was hardly likely to tell his agents on the planet what the Toclafane truly were - Docherty let them get a good look at the thing inside the sphere, and confirming the theory that Romana had made on the origins of the spheres. The sphere was packed with wires and tubes, probably feeding tubes, directly into a withered human head. The Head fit right into the casing, and it was plugged into something that covered the mouth, some sort of breathing or microphone apparatus. Martha recoiled slightly at the creature, they all did.

The head woke up, it was a strange sight watching a disembodied head wake up like that. Romana examined it with her eyes, it's eyes were milky, pale silver, set into a wrinkled brown skin.

The sudden action made the three humans jump, but Romana had maintained her cool. " It's alive!" Docherty gasped. Romana rolled her eyes; the scientist had quoted a famous horror movie. Frankenstein. Considering the circumstances, Romana found it appropriate.

" Martha. Martha Jones." The head croaked; whether it was because the electricity had shaken its organic components more than the electronic ones, Romana didn't know, but the Toclafane recovered swiftly.

Milligan whispered at Martha, " It knows you." Romana rolled her eyes, wondering if this human made stating the obvious a hobby. The Toclafane ignored them and focused on Martha.

" Sweet, kind Martha Jones, you helped us to fly." The head spoke clearly now into the voice synthesiser.

Martha, still horrified, and she didn't make the connection, the thought that had just entered Romana's mind with dawning horror and revulsion. She'd held out hope it wasn't true, but seeing the head and the way the sphere knew Martha made that hope vanish. The final confirmation of the Toclafane's identity. The Time Lady had long suspected the truth about the Toclafane, this was the final confirmation she had of the horrible theory of what the Master had done to recruit the spheres.

" What do you mean?" Martha asked, sending a questioning look towards Romana. The Time Lady's face showed clearly she knew what was going on, but she couldn't bring herself to say.

The Toclafane still carried on, almost like it was revering Martha for some deed only it knew, " You led us to salvation."

With fear in her voice, Martha asked almost hesitantly, " Who are you?"

Nothing could've prepared Martha for the horror of the head's next statement, " The skies are made of diamonds."

Martha gasped in shock and horror, " No." she backed away in terror as the truth set in "You can't be him" She whispered in horror, unwilling to believe what the head was saying. She couldn't believe it, she didn't want to believe...Yet it made sense, why the Master had needed to open the rift with the TARDIS and wipe out one tenth of the Earth's population. Made sense why Romana seemed to know what they were not long after they started on the journey around the world, why she didn't seem to want to say anything about it. Martha understood why now, the Time lady hadn't wanted to base her thoughts on a hypothetical theory.

Unbidden, her mind went back to Malcassairo, to the sweet little boy, Creet, "...the skies are made of diamonds," he said. Looks like he was wrong, Martha thought sadly. Other memories flooded her mind, the people at the end of the universe, trying to escape the end of everything, the last of humanity. Martha had seen the colonists board the rocket Yana had built for their journey. Were they all Toclafane? Had some of them committed suicide rather than turn their backs on their ancestral forms? Had the Master himself influenced their madness? Considering what the evil Time Lord had done so far Martha wouldn't put it past him.

" We share each other's memories," the head explained, " You sent him to Utopia."

" Oh, my god!" Martha choked on the bile that was rising through her body.

" What's it talking about? What's it mean?" Tom whispered, unnerved clearly by the familiarly the head had with Martha, and finally realising that something deeper was happening.

The same thought occurred to Docherty, " What are they?"

Milligan became more insistent, " Martha. Martha, tell us. What are they?"

Martha looked them both in the eye, except Romana, who was staring down at the head with an expression of someone who clearly wanted to be sick but couldn't find the time to do it.

" They're us. They're humans. The human race from the future." She looked back into the milky eyes of the head as it gazed on her with an emotion that was hard to place.

Romana took a breath, " I'd worked it out a while ago. I told you sometime ago, Dr Milligan," she addressed Tom with his professional title, even though there were few hospitals that even had the right resources now, " that I'd met DaVinci, and that Martha told you she'd met Shakespeare himself. The reason for that is simple. We're time travellers. Yes, time travel's possible. The Doctor, the Master and myself are from a race known as the Time lords," Romana hadn't wanted to admit that to these two, they might tar her with the same brush as the Master, but she needed them both to understand the scale of what was really happening, the only real way of them realising that was to reveal her true species. She held up her hands, " I'm not going to hurt you, even amongst my race there are those members that are psychotic. The Doctor and I were trying to stop the Master from taking over, but he was too strong, he'd been here too long and assembled his plans," Romana gazed thoughtfully at the head as it too listened; Romana wondered if it was listening in curiosity or whether it saw it had nothing better to do.

She shook off the thought and carried on to her silent human audience, " My people solved the mysteries of time, eventually we built ships which transcended time and space. We call them TARDISes. Time and Relative Dimension In Space. The Master once owned a TARDIS himself, but he had no choice but to use the Doctor's. Before he left the end of the universe, the Doctor locked the controls. That means that the Master can only travel between two points in time and space; present day 21st century Earth and the End of the Universe. It was the only thing he could've done at the time."

" With the TARDIS, the Master could barely travel far. You've seen what he's done to Earth already," she said to the humans, " if he got out, no one would be safe from him. The end of the universe was the only place he could go." Romana glared at the Toclafane in disgust. " He found Utopia."

Martha took up the story, she gave a brief summary of the project for Docherty's and Tom's benefits before she finished, " The Utopia project was the last hope. Trying to find a way to escape the end of everything."

For the first time the head that had once been a human being spoke in a voice so solemn, it could only come from a victimised survivor, and that made Romana feel a sort of kinship with the hideous thing in the shell, even if she found it repugnant.

" There was no solution. No diamonds. Just the dark and the cold. We turned on ourselves, using that wonderful invention of our ancestors, our...ingenuity to make ourselves so pretty." The Head said in a voice that was becoming a good mix of fanatical and mad at the same time. " But then the Master came with his wonderful time machine, to bring us back home."

" That time machine doesn't belong to the Master," Romana snarled at the head.

Dochery had time to assimilate the date she'd been given, and she arrived at an obvious flaw in the Master's plan, " That's a paradox. If you're the future of the human race, and you've come back to murder your ancestors, you should cancel yourselves out. You shouldn't exist."

Romana was aware that primitive races trying to solve time travel would at some point realise the dangers of paradoxes, and Docherty had hit this one dead on target.

Martha though came right back, " And that's the paradox machine."

" A living time machine, able to see and predict the changes and compensate for them. That sort of crime's unthinkable. The Master's changing history, not just that of Earths. The entire universes." Romana whispered.

" We come back in time, all to build a brand new empire, lasting 100 trillion years!" The Toclafane cackled in a child like tone.

" Not if I'm around," Romana retorted; her mind had gone back to that conversation in the TARDIS after the Doctor had found her from that planet. She remembered him telling her that the limits of Time lord body regeneration were no longer valid. If the Master found out...

" What about us? We're the same species. Why kill so many of us?" Tom asked in a voice of cold fury.

The answer was simple, and oh so predictable from a creature that had been twisted back into childhood, " Because it's fun!" The head laughed.

No one objected when Tom put a bullet in the centre of its forehead, straight into the brain. Death was instantaneous.

" Why didn't you say anything about the Toclafane?" Martha asked Romana. Docherty was cleaning up, Tom was taking the Toclafane somewhere, anything that found it would think it had some kind of malfunction or something.

Romana had been expecting and dreading this question, " If I had would you've believed me, Martha? You believed, when we were at the end of the universe ourselves that we were doing good, to tell you that it had been a failure, that present day Earth itself would be paying the price, it might've made you question what we were doing."

Martha felt anger burning in her chest, " You mean you didn't want me running off and telling everyone we met that the Toclafane they were running and hiding from were their own descendents 100 trillion years ahead?" Romana didn't say a word, but Martha had come closer to the truth than she knew. Martha looked away from Romana, and whispered, " Maybe the Master's right, maybe..."

Martha didn't get a chance say anymore, Romana had gripped her by the shoulders and started to shake Martha, " Listen to me, Martha, that's the attitude the Master wants. The Doctor himself worked it out months back, I felt his horror through the telepathic link that binds us together. But the Doctor's still fighting him, and so am I. I know how you feel, Martha, really I do. You're not the only one to be let down by your own race."

This time it was Romana's turn to look away, to be on the point of a breakdown, " My own people wanted to wipe out everything. We hadn't fought a war in 10 million years, hardly a wise attitude if you're planning to fight the Daleks. I was deposed, and my people brought back a monster. One of the legendary founders of our race, but he didn't care about the universe or the people within it. He almost brought about the destruction of us all, but most of my more weak willed people joined him in his mad quest." Romana turned to face Martha, tears in her eyes and taking Martha by surprise, up to now Romana had been like a rock, now she was exposing the heartbroken woman beneath, " You're not alone Martha, I've seen races turn inwards on themselves, people who don't care if they cause harm to others. The Master's a member of my race, yet he behaves like a rampaging animal and destroying everything in his path."

" I will not let him destroy the Earth."

If someone had told Romana and Martha they'd have been flown back to the Valiant, then they'd have been disappointed because what they were expecting was shock, not no emotion from the two girls. After spending their last night with the slave workers before the Master, and Rose, picked them up, Romana had listened as Martha laid down the story one last time. Then Docherty had come through for them, one last time. The Master himself, with his wife, had come to arrest them personally. Romana wondered why both of them had come, she could easily guess the Master's rationale, they did from the same species afterall, but Martha...If Romana was honest with herself, she would guess that Rose was here just to gloat.

The plane was opulent, then again it must be the only passenger plane left. It was a pity both girls were handcuffed; Romana was delighted that the Master didn't know about her sonic screwdriver, but she was less than glad that Rose had her own version of a laser screwdriver, the callous way she'd shot down Tom Milligan in the street like a dog made Romana angry.

As the plane left the ground, the Master said to both of them, " I've been looking for both of you for so long," he looked at them in a way that most people would guess was kindness, but Romana saw the contempt in his eyes, especially when his gaze bore into her like a laser. " I've heard many things about you, Lady Romana. The last president of Gallifrey, reduced to walking the Earth on an errand from a heartbroken fool."

Romana clenched her fists in rage, her blood pressure rising at the denigrating words the Master had used to describe the Doctor, but she didn't rise to the bait the way the Master had expected. Romana turned away, unable to stomach looking at the Master anymore, and found herself looking at Rose.

The human woman's face was something a child would have on their faces when adults told them something incredibly stupid, something only child knew was the truth.

Romana wasn't in the mood for Rose, " What?" She asked in annoyance.

Rose smiled condescendingly, her voice was like that of a teacher speaking to a teenager and thinking of them as five year olds, " I can't imagine why the Doctor sent you around the world, only for you to be caught. You must've known we would catch you. You've failed..."

" Don't forget, Rose, we've been giving you two the run around for a year, moving on constantly." Martha spat, hatred for this bitch entering her eyes. Romana studied both their captors; the Master was calm, yet he seemed confident in his victory. Rose, however, was the opposite of her husband, she was smug, arrogance was seeping through every pore, it was in her body language, the casual way she was sitting. But the Master was eyeing both Martha and Romana in bemusement. Romana could guess why, the Master didn't know the full extent of the Doctor's plans, why he'd sent them across the world the way he had. Romana was delighted their gun cover was over, it hadn't been pleasant thinking about taking life. Considering the person they were supposed to kill was one of the last three Time lords in the universe, Romana wondered why the Master would think the Doctor, a man who hated the thought of violence and only used it as a last resort would suddenly order two of his companions to find a gun to kill him.

The Master and Rose clearly thought that whatever the Doctor had had in mind, it failed because the gun had been destroyed. They were in for a shock.

Rose, however, was still gloating, looking both girls scathingly, " There's nothing special about you two, just like there's nothing special about any of the Doctor's former companions. He said I was an exception-"

Martha wasn't letting her get away with that, not after they'd met some of those companions, " Then why is it none of them would agree with what you're doing? We met some of them, we told them about Utopia, where we found you," she added to the Master, looking at the other Time lord with barely disguised loathing before she turned her ire back on Rose, " None of them agree with what you're doing."

" None of them love the Doctor like I do."

" Love?" Romana sneered, unwilling to let this jumped up ape use that word. " After what you've done do you really expect the Doctor to love you? I watched as the Master aged him into that homunculus, and I don't recall ever seeing you rush over to him, to check if he was okay after that. What makes you think he'd love you after you've murdered millions on a scale for something that hasn't even happened?"

Rose didn't even bother to respond to the accusations Romana had thrown her way, she didn't seem to care, but she did respond to the last question in a voice that was to humor Romana and Martha.

" So you'd sit back and let the end of the universe happen? The Doctor's way is wrong, it'll kill us. He just needs time to understand - " Rose was interrupted again, this time by Martha.

" Needs time? After what you and your husband have done I'm surprised he's still alive." Martha shouted.

Romana sneered at the Master, who was listening in stony silence. " Is that the shit you've told her? That the reason you're torturing the Doctor is to make him 'see the light,' or 'see the truth'? You and I both know, Master," the way Romana had just said the title was like she had a rotting piece of fruit in her mouth, " the Doctor will not accept this."

The Master was still silent, but Romana still had her attention turned on Rose, " Face facts already, you're not helping the Doctor, you're only interested in helping yourself."

SLAP! Romana's head rocked as Rose slapped her across the face, this prompted the Master to grab his wife and pull her back down into her seat. Rose glared with hatred at Romana.

" How dare you question my love for the Doctor! He loves me, I know he does. I crossed two universes to get back here for him-"

" Yet you married him?" Martha pointed at the Master, " I feel the love here."

By now Rose was furious, but the Master had a strong grip on her arms to stop her getting up again, " Oh really, bitch, you think you know all about the Doctor? I know things about him that would make your hair turn grey." Rose smirked, thinking this would be easy.

Romana and Martha took up the challenge willingly, " Go on then," Romana challenged, " tell us."

The Master was the only one of the two who picked up on the sarcasm, Rose was oblivious, and before the Master could get Rose to stop, she'd already started.

" Did you know the Doctor's a father-"

" We know he's a grandfather," Romana said, her Time lady ice queen persona running at full power. Bashoth women smirked at Rose's slack look of shock, clearly the Doctor hadn't told Rose much about his life prior to leaving Gallifrey. Gallifrey, that gave Martha an idea, one she was sure she'd win in this pathetic little contest.

" Rose, did the Doctor take you to Gallifrey?" Martha asked innocently.

The two Time lords reactions to this question were obvious, the Master was suspicious, but he was clearly interested in where this would lead. Romana looked at Rose, a small smile playing on her lips, she could see where this was going to go.

Rose, startled by the question, answered with a smile. " Of course he did, he wanted me to see the whole universe," she sighed dreamily, " He took me there after we dealt with the Slitheen. It was beautiful, purple skies highlighted in gold and silver, chocolate brown trees and grass, green water," she sighed again, then she got a hold on herself, " Why do you ask?"

Martha countered with another question, " Did he tell you about his homeplanet?"

Rose shook her head, looking pitying and making Martha and Romana want to punch that look off her face, " No. He always got so sad whenever someone or something brought up his people, I didn't want to make him sadder."

Martha asked another question, " Did he ever tell you the name of his planet?" Martha saw although Rose obviously didn't, how she was able to travel with the Doctor without noticing her surroundings was beyond Martha's comprehension, the looks on both the Master and Romana's faces. They could see where Martha was going with these questions, but the Master's expression made it clear that whilst he was aware of where the questions were leading, he wasn't going to say a word. Clearly the Master was fed up with Rose, and Martha didn't care why.

" No." Rose replied unsurely, sending a look at the Master for help, but she received a cold look.

" Do you want to know it?" Romana asked, smiling coyly. Without waiting for an answer the Time lady told her, " The home world of the Time lords was called Gallifrey. The Doctor lied to you Rose, the planet he took you to was one I visited a long time ago. It's called Florana Minor. I don't know why he lied, and I don't really care."

Rose looked between the three of them, but the Master was eyeing her with disappointment for falling for such an obvious trap, and Romana and Martha's faces both had massive smirks on them.

" Ok," she said at last to the other two women with a red face, whether it was anger or jealousy, they didn't know, but they gathered it was a bit of both, " I admit that you know some things, but get this. I love the Doctor." Rose sat back angrily, but the look in her eyes reminded Romana of Soldeed, the maniacal Skonnon who was later betrayed by the Nimon.


	29. Chapter 29

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please tell me what you think of it. **

**Defeat and Escape of the Master.**

" _Citizens __of __Earth, __rejoice __and __observe!__" _The PA system said in a perfect copy of the Master's voice, and made Martha wonder if the Master was overcompensating for something. It was bad enough with the statues. She and Romana were standing inside a corridor in a part of the Valiant that Martha vaguely remembered as being close to the control and conference room. There were two soldiers guarding them.

" Nervous?" Romana asked Martha looking at the Human to see if she was afraid, the Time Lady could see that even though she was putting on a facade Martha was terrified, and frankly Romana couldn't blame her.

Martha glanced at her friend, putting on a shaky smile, " No." She lied.

Romana caught the lie at once, but she didn't say a word. Whilst they were waiting Romana had time to think of what had happened since they'd been captured. The Master had had them thrown into a cell, they were given food and water, which surprised Martha but not the Time Lady. The Master knew she was a pure bred Time Lord, that any offspring they had would be pure, that she would have no choice but to care for them, Rose be damned. Romana knew such an action would irreversibly hurt the Doctor, but that was what the Master wanted. The Master obviously intended to keep her alive whilst Martha died, the first blood of the New Time Lord Empire. The thought sickened her. It wouldn't be an Empire, it would be a dictatorship, the image of the Time Lords destroyed forever by the Master. Whilst she wasn't proud of what her people had done and become during the Time War, it didn't mean Romana wanted their image, their reputation to be spoilt. Romana closed her eyes, thinking about the various issues with this mess. The Master's marriage to Rose wasn't perfect, if the vision of the Fourth Doctor had been accurate, and there was no reason to suggest he wasn't, and that Rose was expendable but Romana wasn't. Indeed the Master had barely said more than one word on the trip to the Valiant, not even stopping Rose from being tricked by her rivals. That was telling about their relationship. It was the plans the Master had for her that scared her.

The very thought, the idea, that the Master wanted to rape her and force her to carry his spawn sickened her, and she couldn't help but wonder what it would do to the Doctor; it would kill him, break his hearts to a point where he would never be able to talk, eat, anything. The thought almost broke Romana's Time Lady control.

If Martha was nervous, no not nervous, terrified, then Romana was wondering if jumping off a cliff would save her from a fate worse than death. No, she resolved, throwing the thoughts aside. She was a Time Lady, the Last ( or so she might think; indeed until she'd met the Doctor, and unfortunately the Master, she was certain she was the last of the Time lords) True Time lady in the cosmos, and she wasn't going to let her man down. The thought of the Doctor excited and terrified her at the same time; she knew Martha loved the Doctor, but the Doctor didn't love her in the same way. Romana was frightened of seeing him now, a television screen image was nothing compared to the real thing.

A guard held his hand to his right ear for a moment, listening to voice. The guard nodded to his friend, and they jabbed both girls in their backs with their guns.

" Come on, the Master's waiting."

Romana and Martha shared one last look. This was it. Romana's fingers wrapped themselves around Martha's, squeezed them reassuringly, then let go.

* * *

The Master was indeed waiting, just like the guard said. He was delighted his plans hadn't had any major hiccups, even Martha Jones travelling the Earth with Lady Romana wasn't a problem for him which surprised and concerned the Master. The Master had known one of his agents would be able to corner them, but he was still surprised slightly with how easy it had been to actually capture them. Lady Romana was younger than he and the Doctor, she had the same basic knowledge he and his greatest enemy possessed, yet she had let herself be captured without much of a struggle, that was what worried him. Paranoia was a constant companion with the Master, and now he was getting a feeling that something was off. The Master had prepared his contingency plans, knowing that if something did go wrong it would at this point due to the sensitivity present.

Deciding he'd had enough of waiting for the two prisoners, he gestured for a guard to come to him. " Bring them in." He ordered, making sure his voice was masterly and firm, the last thing he needed was these chimpanzees getting ideas and questioning him.

The Master and Rose, who was dressed in an elegant dress with copious amounts of makeup on her face, stood waiting on the platform overlooking the room. The Master cast his eyes over the room; the guards were stationed in key positions around the room, there was a guard standing very close to the mucky and disheveled Jack Harkness and there were two guards standing next to the Jones family, all three of them looked miserable but they were putting on brave faces. The Master turned his eyes towards the dwarf form of the Doctor, safe in his birdcage. He smirked, knowing it offended the other Time Lords dignity.

The doors opened, admitting Romana and Martha. The Master turned away from the window he was looking through, and walked over to the steps. He simply enjoyed the looks of the two girls, and took the time to survey his new Time Lady bride to be. He could see why the Doctor was enamored with her.

The silence in the room was so much that a spider could walk across the floor and it would be heard as the two girls entered the room. Martha and Romana walked in slowly, taking the time to look the people here. How time had changed this place, last time they'd been here it had been full of people. Now it was almost empty, the tension in the room was frightening, but it was the Master's oppressive presence that made things even more tense. Martha locked eyes with her parents, noting how close her mom and dad were, how worn they looked, how terrified they were of making one wrong move. Tish had a bruise under her left eye and Martha wondered how she'd gotten it, making her think she'd been roughed up by Rose or the Master. After hearing what had happened with that girl thanks to Romana, she was sure it was Rose but that didn't rule out her husband.

Both girls turned their attention to Captain Jack and the Doctor, both looking worse for wear. Jack looked like he'd spent the past year coal mining and hadn't had the time to wash himself. The former Time Agent was covered in blood in alarming shades of red, brown and black. His shirt was tattered and torn with holes and slash marks. But he was still upright, strong. His eyes smoldered with sorrow that both girls had been caught, but happy to see them alive and healthy. All three of the girls hearts froze with pity when they saw what had been done to the Doctor; wizened with a massive domed head, Romana knew that if the ability to regenerate hadn't been frozen they'd be dealing with a new incarnation right now. After what they'd learnt from Amy Pond, Romana was delighted the Doctor's timeline hadn't altered yet but that could change if the Master decided to torture him with a new regeneration crisis. Although if he did that he'd be foolish.

As they were being dragged into the room, the Master gestured a guard to grab Romana. The Time Lady struggled, but she knew it was no use, she'd expected something like this just not so soon. " Let me go, I've got legs." The guard ignored her. Martha gulped. Romana had told her when they'd been travelling what the Master might do to the pair of them at the start of his new empire. Martha would die but Romana, being a pure Time Lady would be forced to become the mother of the Master's children.

Martha wasn't sure if her fate was worse, at least she wouldn't have been touched by the Master, but she pitied Romana if things didn't go their way.

The Master stepped down from the platform a couple of steps, " Your teleport device," he said, holding his hand out. He smirked callously, enjoying humiliating Martha in front of the Doctor and the pathetic girl's family, " In case you'd thought I'd forgotten." He added in a voice that brooked no argument.

Martha took out the vortex manipulator, it was her turn to carry the time travelling space hopper, hoping to give it back in one piece to Jack, and threw it towards the Master, who caught it. There was no more running away. This was it, the deciding finale. Either the Master would win or they would.

The Master had a smug look of victory on his face as he took out his laser screwdriver and pointed it towards Martha, " Now," the Master smirked, savoring his victory, " Kneel." He drawled out the word, savoring the word as it left his mouth.

Martha gritted her teeth, but did as she was told. The Master chortled; delighted to have one of the Doctor's wonderful companions kneeling in front of him, it had just rounded off his victory.

" Down below, the fleet is ready to launch. 200,000 ships set to burn across the universe." The Master announced to everyone in the silent room, he grinned down at Martha.

Gleefully running towards the radio, like a little boy with a trainset, the Master sent a message, " Are we ready?" he asked, deftly pocketing the manipulator in his inner pocket whilst speaking to the Toclafane and the fleetyards over a radio. " Three minutes to align the black hole converters." The Master said, fiddling with an oddly shaped watch on his wrist. " Counting down!" he added as a clock started ticking.

With that insane grin on his face, the Master turned to his wife as it ticked down, " I never could resist a ticking clock."

The Master shouted, " My children, are you ready?"

* * *

In space, the Toclafane swarm hovered above the Earth, the planet of their birth, as the Sun started to rise above the world. There was something prophetic about the image; a swarm of spheres armed to the teeth with a demented Time Lord to command them, and a war fleet waiting to depart from Earth. In response to the Master's question, they all chanted with their collective voice, " _**We **__**will **__**fly **__**and **__**blaze **__**and **__**slice! **__**We **__**will **__**fly **__**and **__**blaze **__**and **__**slice!**__**"**_

* * *

On the Valiant the Master was still gloating about his ultimate victory, " At zero, to mark this day, the child, Martha Jones, will die." The Master announced, turning to the Jones family. He sounded like a preacher or a priest, his voice was solemn. He didn't sound like a lunatic despot. Then he spoilt it as he grinned down at Martha as he added, " My first blood. Any last words? No?" The Master frowned, screwing his face up as he marched down the steps to get closer to Martha for a better shot. He took out his Laser screwdriver, and said to the Doctor, " The days of old, Doctor, you had companions who could absorb the Time Vortex, cure diseases, create mathematical cities from nothing. This one's useless!"

" I agree with you there, darling." Rose smirked, looking over Romana and Martha with a superior air.

That sentence was punctuated by the sinister sound of the laser screwdriver being activated.

" Bow your head!" The Master snarled in a guttural voice, as if he was death personified. Then, in a voice that sounded almost religious, the Master carried on, " And so it falls to me, as Master of all, to establish from this day a new order of Time Lords. From this day forward..." The Master stopped and looked down at Martha when he heard chuckling coming from her.

The Master lowered the screwdriver, knowing the girl wouldn't be laughing without good reason, " What? What's so funny?" The Master asked curiously, but not without contempt for the girl.

Martha's head rose up slowly, she was going to enjoy this and put the Master in his place, " A gun?" She asked in a tone that suggested the Master and Rose were lunatics.

" What about it?" Rose asked believing the matter was closed.

" A gun in four parts?" Martha asked in a disbelieving voice.

Now the Master was getting impatient, and wished the stupid monkey would get to the point, " Yes, and I destroyed it."

" A gun, in four parts, scattered across the world? I mean, come on! Did you really believe that?" Martha asked, looking at Rose and the Master as if they were more stupid than they were.

Rose sneered, " You failed." She replied smugly, thinking there was nothing more to be gained from a gun. But her husband didn't agree.

" What do you mean?" The Master asked, humoring her. If St Martha wanted to play games then he'd indulge her for the time being.

The Doctor moved forward slowly, " As if I would ask them both to kill." He looked at them both, " How could you think that of me? You both know I would never kill if there was another solution. Did you two never know me, Master, Rose?" He asked sadly.

The Master jeered, " Oh, well, it doesn't matter. I've got her exactly where I want her."

" We both knew what Professor Docherty would do," Martha insisted, waving a hand in Romana's direction. " The resistence knew about her son. I told her about the gun so she'd get us here. At the right time."

The Master was on the cusp of losing both his patience and this temper, this was going on too long. " But you're still gonna die."

Romana had been silent up to now, now she wanted one of the other three Time Lords in the universe to know Martha wasn't alone on this.

" Don't you even wanna know what we were doing, travelling the world?"

The Master shrugged, realising at last that he had no choice in the matter, " Tell me." He ordered.

" We told a story. That's all. No weapons, just words." Romana said, gaining the Master's full attention. " We did what the Doctor said."

" We travelled the world, across the continents all on our own. And everywhere we went we found the people and we told our story. We told them to pass it on. To spread the word so that everyone would know about the Doctor."

" Faith and hope? Is that all?" The Master asked disdainfully; he'd believed these two women were intelligent, Romana especially considering she was a Time lord, but clearly he'd been wrong.

Martha stood up slowly, proudly, " No, 'cause we gave them an instruction. Just as the Doctor said. We told them that if everyone thinks of one word, at one specific time..."

" Nothing will happen!" The Master spat scornfully. " Is that your weapon? Prayer?"

Romana smiled, " Right across the world."

" One word, just one thought, at one moment, but with 15 satellites." Martha completed.

It was like a bomb had dropped on both Rose and the Master. " What?" Rose whispered.

" The Archangel network." Jack whispered but everyone heard him.

" A telepathic field binding the whole human race all of them, every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time. And that word is ' Doctor.'"

As the clock reached zero, the cage the Doctor was in started to glow, the energy dissipated the bars, saturating the Doctor in energy. The telepathic circuits of the Doctor's TARDIS, in conjunction with the Human connection, worked its magic on the frail Time Lord. The TARDIS, enslaved by the Master for so long now, added in what energy she could to help her Time Lord.

* * *

In the conference room, and throughout the Valiant, and the rest of the world, people started chanting and adding to the already seductive message. It was intoxicating, the feel of everyone's minds, the thoughts and desires, their compassion, their desire for the Master to be vanquished, was poured into the word and thought " Doctor." Other thoughts joined into the chorus, hopes, love and loss. All topped by hope. Romana added her own power, opening her own connection to Archangel. She'd been preparing for this moment, and she added her own Time Lady mind and power and mixed it in. Her mind joined the TARDIS, and with the working telepathic circuits she added a more powerful force to the one the humans had made.

* * *

Rose was feeling torn; one part of her wanted to join in with the others, but the other side of her kept saying, _No, __they__'__ve __gotten __it __wrong. __The __Doctor__'__s __way __will __destroy __us. __Only __the __Master __can __save __us...__" _Because of that indecisiveness, she was left out, but she could feel it.

* * *

The Master was trying to restore order, but he was ignored. For the first time this year he was being ignored.

" Stop it. No, no, no, no, you don't."

As everyone started chanting " Doctor" the Master tried to say, " Don't..." but he was blotted out when screens showing the cities and the workcamps came alive with the ragged survivors of the Toclafane descent. All of the them chanting " Doctor."

* * *

The Doctor closed his eyes, feeling the telepathic energy wash all over him. This was like being in a blanket of emotion, he could feel every emotion on Earth; love, hate for the Master and the Toclafane, hope, desire for change, for everything to go back...He also felt his TARDIS singing to him, giving him strength, galvanising him and rejuvenating his small body. He could feel Romana too, the beautiful Time Lady was sending him memories of their times together when he was all teeth and curls. He could feel her love for him, her desire to make him see that he was no longer alone in travelling the cosmos. He returned that love with everything he got.

His body reverted back to what it had been before the laser screwdriver had aged him to 900 years past his original date. The Time Lord could feel his muscles and body become younger and stronger again...

" Stop this right now! Stop it!" The Master's desperate voice rose to a shout. The Doctor didn't listen to him; the Master had refused to listen to him in the hell he'd created thanks to the Human race's own twisted future, he'd refused the Doctor's offer to fight across the stars. Why should the Doctor listen to him now?

As his body became more and more upright and healthy again, the Doctor locked his eyes on the faces of his oldest enemy and the girl who'd betrayed him and her entire race.

" I've had a whole year to tune myself into the psychic network and integrate with it's matrices."

The Master still seemed to think he was in someway in charge of the situation, but he was coming off as pathetically desperate, " I order you to stop!"

The Doctor felt like laughing. _Order? __You __think __you__'__re __in __charge __Master ? __Not __any more._

* * *

By now the chanting was reaching crescendo, but it wasn't over. The bald aged Doctor was replaced by a younger Doctor, his messy brown hair grew back, his skin smoothed with the appearance of youth. His voice lost its reediness and became more stronger.

" The one thing you can't do is stop them thinking."

Martha, Jack and Romana laughed as the majestic Doctor rose in his energy blanket, hovering higher than where the Master was.

" Tell me the human race is degenerate now, when they can do this."

The Master was slack jawed, and he felt something in his chest as his mind rushed back to that nightmare he'd had, back when he was in his 13th life and tormenting the 3rd Doctor. The Master had always been afraid of an image of the Doctor, growing to gigantic proportions and laughing at him, the Master. Now that dream was starting to come true. The Master was afraid, but pride wouldn't stop him, even in the wake of his plans being ruined, his latest gamble being ruined...

He wasn't beaten yet. He was not beaten.

" _**No!**_" The Master yelled, firing two blasts into the Doctor, but the energy was absorbed.

" I' sorry, I am so sorry." The Doctor said compassionately at his old enemy.

The Master twisted his face into a snarl as he realised the Doctor couldn't be killed, he adjusted the settings on the laser screwdriver, and pointed it towards the huddled Jones family and Romana.

" Then I'll kill them." He hissed in homicidal joy.

The Doctor raised his hand, and the laser screwdriver was sent hurtling across the room, far out of the Master's reach. It took the Master a while to adjust to the fact that his weapon was no longer in his hand. He was helpless. To the humans, it was like seeing a cowardly bully about to be beaten up by someone stronger; for the past year the Master had killed, maimed, tortured and humiliated everyone on the Valiant. His evil wife was no better, but now, seeing the Doctor restored like this and seeing the Laser screwdriver torn away from his grasp, the Master looked like he was on the verge of a collapse.

" You can't do this! You can't do...It's not fair!" The Master yelled at the Doctor, furious with this latest defeat.

The Doctor's voice was ominous, as if he held the power of God at his fingertips. In a way he did.

" And you know what happens now."

The Master shouted, " No!"

He repeated the word, repeatedly as he backed away, down the flight of steps nearest to him, trying to get away from his fellow Time Lord, who was coming towards him.

" No! No! No! No!"

" You wouldn't listen." The Doctor's voice echoed around the room.

" No!" The Master yelled, the Leader of Earth, the supposed founder of the New Time Lord empire was now huddling against the wall, trying desperately to get away.

" Because you know what I'm going to say." The Doctor was saying as he came nearer to the ground.

" No." The Master was now clawing the walls, hoping for a quick exit.

The energy around the Doctor finally dissipated, his clothes and body unchanged and undamaged. It was almost as if he had put on the suit that morning rather than wear it for a whole year.

The Doctor walked over to the Master, bending down and embracing the cowering Time Lord in his arms. " I forgive you."

Rose shook her head, unbelieving about what had happened. She too was repeating the word, " No." Only for more selfish reasons than the Master.

The Master whipped his hands away from his face, revealing a mask made of anger. " My children!" He hissed, sending a desperate telepathic message.

* * *

In space, the neat and tidy Toclafane formations broke up. The spheres were in panic, " Protect the paradox. Protect the Paradox. Protect the paradox." They chanted.

* * *

Letting go of the Master, the Doctor jumped up, and shouted and order at Jack. " Captain, the paradox machine!"

Jack grabbed a rifle, and shouted for the guards. The Master's hold over them was broken. " You men, with me!"

The Doctor turned his attention back to the Master, and just in time. The other Time Lord had removed the vortex manipulator. " No!" The Doctor yelled. Both Time Lords struggled with the manipulator, and it was set off. In a bright light, both Time Lords vanished.

* * *

Romana was faster than a Human, even one as conditioned as Jack. The Time Lady caught up with the immortal Time Agent quickly. Jack did a double take when he saw her. " What the hell are you doin'?" He snapped.

" I'm helping you."

" I don't want your help. You might get killed." Jack retorted.

" No matter. I know how to deal with the Toclafane." She held up her sonic screwdriver, and the laser screwdriver.

Jack paled when he saw the Master's weapon. " Where did you get that?"

" I snagged it before I left the room. I'm trying to slave it to my sonic screwdriver, should bypass the isomorphic controls." Romana said, getting to grips with the delicate task. It was hard seeing as they were rushing through corridors.

" Should?" Jack asked.

" Best I can do Jack." The Time lady replied, reminding Jack of a distant memory of something he'd said to Linda Moss before she was killed by the Daleks.

* * *

The Doctor found himself on a hill, overlooking one of the many shipyards he'd seen from so many viewports and screens all year.

" Now it ends, Doctor!" The Master held out his arms, the thunder in the sky highlighting his words. " Now it ends!"

* * *

Jack, the guards and Romana had reached the storeroom where the TARDIS was located. Surrounding the time machine were 3 spheres, the only ones not in the formation. As soon as they saw the Humans with guns, they extended their weapons, armed and ready for battle. Romana ducked away, concentrating on the task at hand. Isomorphic technology was complicated, but all Romana wanted to do was slave the circuits of the laser, and not use her biometric field to aim the energy. It was one machine telling another what to do.

* * *

On the bridge, the remaining guard was holding Mrs Saxon at bay. Martha and her family crowded around the liberated staff. The Master had hypnotised the majority of them to do his bidding, but now they were free. Martha winced as she caught sight of a scantily clad woman, dressed in a revealing skirt. The Master sure had a nasty image of women...

Then she saw something on a radar screen in the chaos, something that made her insides freeze. " We've all six billion spheres heading right for us!"

* * *

Back on Earth, the Doctor was still counting his options. There weren't many, he hadn't made a counter plan for the vortex manipulator. The Master always had an insurance plan. The Doctor tried to buy time and reason with the Master; he had little to lose, besides it would give him the time needed to think of a way he could fight the Master and take them back to the Valiant.

" We've got control of the Valiant. You can't launch."

The Master smirked as he removed the watch he'd fiddled with earlier; the Master could hardly contain his rage and frustration that he'd come this close, _this__close,_to winning, only for his chance to be snatched away from him by his hated enemy.

" Ah, but I've got this." The Master held up the watch, his last remaining card. " Black hole converter inside every ship."

The Doctor's face went slack as he realised what the Master was thinking about; black hole converters tore the gravity wells apart, focusing the matter in a small space would result in a black hole. With 200, 000 converters the Master would be able to create 200, 000 black holes inside the planet and destroy it.

The Master carried on, outlining his threat, " If I can't have this world, Doctor, then neither can you." Holding his arms out, he carried on, " We shall stand upon this world together as it burns!"

The Doctor's face reflected his fear, then that fear vanished, leaving behind a perfectly calm Time Lord. The Master was good at reading body language, and he saw the barely hidden disgust in the Doctor's eyes.

* * *

On board the Valiant, those on the flight deck watched with mounting fear as the Toclafane swarm came closer and closer. It was like watching a flock of birds, or a swarm of bees as they flew closer and closer. Martha could feel her blood congeal into ice. All year long she'd been taking a message for the Doctor, only now she was going to die. Where was the Doctor? He always came up with great ideas, Martha knew nothing the defence systems of the Valiant. They were finished.

* * *

Romana was trying to concentrate on her work whilst the soldiers Jack had found were trying to fight off the Toclafane. She was almost finished, she just needed a few seconds. A guard panted to Jack as they ducked out the way, two others weren't so lucky when they were killed.

" Can't get in, we'd get slaughtered."

Jack thought back on the amount of times when he'd been shot, sliced, diced, disintegrated, speared, incinerated, and said wryly, " Yeah, happens to me a lot."

He was about to jump out and shoot at the spheres again when Romana stopped him by placing a cool hand on his wrist, holding him in place. The Time Lady whispered, " Allow me."

Without waiting for Jack's approval, Romana stepped in front of the Toclafane, who stopped firing when they realised this woman wasn't armed properly, and holding up both the sonic screwdriver she'd made all those years ago whilst travelling with the Doctor and the weapon the Master had used all year. Flicking on her sonic screwdriver first, Romana aimed them at one of the spheres, and squeezed the control. A blast of energy destroyed one of the spheres. Realising that the spheres would kill her in a moment, Romana slowed time around her body, which gave the time necessary to kill the remaining spheres...

* * *

On the bridge, the cloud, the swarm, whatever you want to call it, was coming closer and closer...

* * *

On the Earth, the Doctor moved closer to the Master, talking as he went. " Weapon after weapon after weapon. All you do is talk and talk and talk." When the Doctor was close enough, he got to the point, " But over all these years, and all these disasters, I've always had the greatest secret of them all."

The Doctor's eyes were now level with those of the Master, how similar they were to his own, as he delivered his coup de grace. " I know you."

Looking over the ships in the shipyard, he carried on, " Explode those ships, you kill yourself. That's the one thing you can never do."

Holding out his hand, the Doctor said, " Give that to me."

The Master weighed his options. His plans were in ruins, he had no more weapons up his sleeves, he had surprises yes, but he couldn't do anything at the moment. The Doctor was right, about those ships. If he detonated those ships - another nice word, detonate - then he too would die. The one thing he could never do. Besides he could live today, fight tomorrow. Snarling slightly at this latest mishap, the Master bitterly slapped the watch into the Doctor's waiting hand.

* * *

Jack and Romana rushed into the TARDIS with the astonished guard; even though he'd been a member of UNIT, not every member had ever been inside the time machine of the Doctor, so he was awed. Jack held up his gun and Romana held up the two screwdrivers. " Ready?" The immortal Time Agent asked his two companions.

Romana nodded along with the guard in stereo. " Okay," Jack growled, cocking his rifle. All three of them let loose two barrages of bullets and laser blasts at the paradox components, destroying the machine. With the two men helping, Romana was able to remove some of the cage, just enough for her to point her sonic screwdriver at the controls on the console.

" What're you doing?" The soldier asked curiously.

" I'm setting the TARDIS on self repair mode and also to scan for any other nasties the Master might've left behind. He's quite capable. I'm also coaxing the ship to actually reject the components, like antibodies rejecting germs." Romana replied smoothly.

The guard didn't understand, then again she'd described the TARDIS as if it were a living being...

Suddenly, the ship jolted, creating a shockwave, and the Time rotor flared. " Right," Romana grinned at the two men, " The paradox is reversing."

* * *

The shockwave was felt all over the planet. It knocked the Doctor and the Master to the ground. The Doctor climbed on top of the other Time Lord and fumbled with the Vortex manipulator. In a bright light, they left the scene as thunder flashed in the sky.

* * *

On the bridge of the Valiant, the spheres came closer and then they vanished into a blackish mist. There came jolts that shook the ship, sending everyone reeling. Martha was sent flying...right into the Doctor's arms.

" Everyone, get down. Time is reversing."

As everyone got down, the Doctor and Martha grinned at one another. As time rewound back to the point before the paradox machine activated, they all felt as if their bodies were being stretched apart. Even the Master grimaced, although it was probably because of his plans being spoilt.

* * *

On Earth, the people vanished, they'd never existed like they had since the Master took power. The statues, the ships vanished, the damage the Master committed with his allies faded away, cities like San Francisco repaired themselves, the inhabitants none the wiser. The islands of Japan were restored.

* * *

By the time it was finished, papers were all over the deck. With his manic energy, the Doctor jumped up, " The Paradox is broken. We've reverted back. One year and one day, two minutes past eight in the morning."

The Doctor flicked a switch. _This __is __UNIT __central, __what__'__s __happened up __there? __We __just __saw __the __president __assassinated, _A man over the radio asked.

" See. Just after the president was killed, but just before the spheres arrived." The Doctor proved his point. " Everything back to normal, planet Earth restored. None of it happened. The rockets, the terror, it never was."

" What about the spheres?" Martha asked.

" Trapped at the end of the universe." The Doctor replied; only his eyes showed how sad he was about Humanities' eventual fall, but there was nothing about it he could do.

Francine was still getting to grips with what had happened. " I remember it." She whispered in horror, recalling the hideous memories as if they were a nightmare she'd had during the night.

" We're at the eye of the storm," The Doctor said solemnly, " The only ones who'll ever know."

At that point, the Master ran for the door. He'd been gathering his energies to escape. He was foiled because standing in the doorway was the freak Harkness and Lady Romana, the Doctor's whore.

" Whoa, big fella!" Jack said loudly, grabbing the Master. The evil Time Lord didn't struggle as he held his hands in a surrender gesture. Romana held out a delicate and dainty hand to the guard who'd come with them inside the TARDIS. " Cuffs, please." The guard gave them to her without a wording, training his gun on the Master as a clear warning.

Jack was smiling, " You don't want to the party." He said, taking the offered the cuffs and cuffing the Master's hands behind his back. With one hand over his shoulder, Jack looked at the Master's surly features. " So, what do we do with this one?"

Clive Jones had the answer, " We kill him." He growled.

Tish Jone's face became ugly, highlighting the mysterious bruise on her face, " We execute him."

The Doctor and Romana weren't going to have that; the Master was a Time Lord. He was their responsibility, not the Humans.

" No, that's not the solution." The Doctor tried to make them see sense.

" Oh, I think so." Francine whispered, holding out a gun. She'd picked it up when time had reversed, she held it with all the resolve she felt. The Master had lied to her, fed her lies about the Doctor and Martha. Her family, including Clive, had paid the price for it all. She looked into the face of the man who'd hurt her daughters, aged the Doctor, and destroyed her planet, and pointed the gun at him. " ' Cause all those things, they still happened." Tears were falling from Francine's eyes as she held the gun up. Who knew them to be so heavy?

" Because of him. I saw them!" Francine hissed.

The Master jeered, " Go on! Do it!" His face became perversely hungry, like a starving man. Only his meal was Francine Jone's fear and pain.

The Doctor had moved slowly towards Francine and he whispered into her ear, " Francine, you're better than him."

Francine tried to hold the gun up with all her strength, but her physical strength meant nothing; she couldn't do it. No matter how much pain and grief the Master had brought with his year from hell, she couldn't kill him. She dropped the gun, and broke down in the Doctor's arms.

The Master looked disappointed.

Leaving Francine in the capable arms of her family, namely Martha and Tish, the Doctor and Romana faced the Master. The other Time Lord looked at them both, he was furious, and both of them could hear him cursing and swearing bloody murder in their heads. Outwardly though he was calm when he asked his question.

" You still haven't answered the question. What happens to me?" The Master asked. He had a good idea what the Doctor was going to say, but he wanted to hear it first.

The Doctor was so predictable, " You're our responsibility," he gestured between himself and Romana, " from now on. The only other Time Lord in existence."

Jack moved closer so then he could stand near the Doctor, and maybe even shake some sense into him, " Yeah, but you can't trust him."

" No." Romana agreed, " The only safe place for him is the TARDIS."

" You mean you're just gonna keep me?" The look of disgust on the Master's hated face spoke volumes about this new development. Then he straightened up. Behind his back, his hand went to his ring...

" Sorry Doctor, Lady Romana. No can do." He grinned, tapping the ring with a telepathic command. The air around the Master blurred as the sound of a TARDIS dematerialisation echoed throughout the room. The wind blew again, blowing the papers around once more. Martha listened to the sound; it wasn't anything like the Doctor's, it was more...smooth, more advanced...

The Master's body became a blur as a more larger form appeared, that of the same grandfather clock form that the Master had hidden his TARDIS when he'd tried to destroy Gallifrey. The Doctor and his friends watched as the clock disappeared, only the face wasn't that of a clock, it was the Master's gloating features.

The Master's TARDIS dematerialised.

* * *

When the wind died down and the sound faded away, there was silence.

Romana broke the silence, " He hid it, all this time. His insurance. He must've programmed the TARDIS to take him away when and if his plans were defeated."

The Doctor's face was calm as he said wearily, " We can't chase him. Our TARDIS," Romana's face lit up at the word ' our,' " is too badly damaged. By the time she's ready the trail will be lost."

The Doctor grabbed both Romana and Martha in a hug, relishing the feel of them both. Unfortunately the moment was spoilt.

" Get your hands off him!"

The Doctor looked up and saw who'd interrupted his hug.

_Rose._

* * *

Tish Jones, like the other maids, had suffered a lot under Rose Saxon.

" Why did he leave her behind?"

Romana pointed, " Look." She instructed.

They did, and they saw that Rose was...vanishing. She was fading away like the invisible man. Rose grabbed onto the fading parts, but she couldn't hang on. She looked with teary eyes towards the Doctor.

" What...? What's happening to me?"

" The Master sustained you here thanks to the TARDIS," The Doctor explained, " He'd used the paradox machine to reach back through the dimensional fracture and pulled you in, but since that hole closed and you've not been in this reality, the TARDIS maintained the paradox. The Toclafane used a simpler conduit when they came here and assassinated President Winters before he opened the rift. When the machine was destroyed, the TARDIS automatically rejected the machine. You're going back through, back to where I last saw you Rose."

Tears fell down Rose's rapidly disappearing face, " No," She sobbed. She held out her hands imploringly to the Doctor. " Help me."

" Why should I help you? You've helped my greatest enemy destroy the second home I've had, you've murdered thousands of people, including children. You betrayed me and your whole race. Why should I help you?" The Doctor asked coldly, repeating the last part.

Rose was really crying now, " You love me..."

" No you don't, you don't love me at all. Goodbye, Rose Saxon."

Rose's face disappeared, looking heartbroken as she finally vanished.

Clive frowned, " Where's she gone?"

The Doctor let out a long sigh, " Some time ago, Rose fell into a parallel universe. Contrary to popular belief, interdimensional travel's now impossible, especially since my people died out. They took the power to open portals into other realities with them. The walls were sealed off. There are still cracks in time that lead to these worlds, the TARDIS fell through one a while ago, shorty before Rose became trapped there. We met a new form of Cybermen, the metal men that appeared as ghosts. I sealed the crack, but later found there were others. I sealed them off too, but Rose became trapped there. I sent a goodbye message to her on the other side. That's where she's gone, Mr Jones. Back to the same moment in time she left. With no conscious memory of what happened here."

Tish was angry, " You mean she wont remember it?"

" I said no conscious memory, didn't I?" The Doctor smiled at Tish, frowning at the bruise before he carried on. " A side effect of travelling in time for so long, like me, Jack, Martha, Romana and, in this case, Rose, is that when history changes, the time traveller will always see it. For those that live in the changed time it becomes a reality, but for time travellers it's like the world went one way and the time travellers know the other. Say you know that JFK was assassinated, but you find yourself in the past and he's still alive. Back to the Future 2 dealt with the problem, an alternate society. In this case, Rose will recall what's happened to her via subconscious memory. Deep down she'll know she'd become a monstrous psychopath." The Doctor looked down sadly. He might not have liked Rose, but he didn't want her to become a monster.

Romana hugged him, " It's the Master's fault, Doctor. Not yours.


	30. Chapter 30 Return trip to Paris

Return trip to Paris.

The Doctor and Romana, and the Jones family and Jack, not to mention the people whom the Master had enslaved and imprisoned on the Valiant, were more than delighted to arrive at one of the many UNIT bases large enough to sustain a ship the size of the Valiant. For those who'd been locked inside the aircraft walking on the ground again, breathing the fresh air without the tang of death was a joy. Romana and Martha had spent an entire year walking across the world, and they'd become accustomed to smelling death in the air. The Valiant crew, freed from the oppressiveness of the Master's control, had brought the carrier down to Earth, where UNIT would be waiting. The Doctor and the Captain of the Valiant had given reports on what had happened, the knowledge that the Master had taken control of the Valiant for a year that was now erased had understandably shaken the UNIT commanders, but they would get the full story when they went over the Valiant and checked over the flight recorders.

Everyone was going to be thoroughly debriefed, including the Doctor and Romana. UNIT knew the Doctor would love nothing more than to leave Earth, but with the TARDIS in ruins the whole thing was academic. Romana and the Doctor, with the dubious cooperation of UNIT, moved the TARDIS to a hanger where the time machine could be repaired by the two Time Lords. The Doctor and Romana were concerned about UNIT's attitude; Romana had heard stories of UNIT from the Doctor, how they'd taken him in and given him a job when he'd been exiled by the Time Lords, but their attitude worried her because they watched them both with suspicion, almost as if they expected the Time Lords to attack them.

Romana guessed that the Master's actions where to blame for this, but she wasn't so sure. It had been years since the Doctor had worked with UNIT, and the organisation had had plenty of time to change in their handling of alien and earthbound threats, without the Doctor's help. It may've been that UNIT felt they no longer needed the wandering time traveller.

The Doctor, on the other hand, wasn't so sure. Like Romana he was sure that some of UNIT's suspicion stemmed from the report of the Master's apparent conquest of the Earth, but the Doctor didn't think it was entirely the case. UNIT had come a very long way since the 70s, they'd adapted from experience, changing their tactics. Meeting them in his 7th incarnation had shown that during the mess with the witch queen Morgaine had convinced the Doctor that UNIT were getting better and better at dealing with alien threats. The Master may have been partially the reason for the mistrust, but the Doctor doubted it. He only hoped they didn't do anything rash.

The human prisoners on the Valiant were treated for any injuries the Master and Rose inflicted on them, they were given fresh clothes, water and food. Jack had been extra delighted at the prospect of a shower, but he was going to be given a long debriefing like the others. Since he was the Head of Torchwood it was expected that his debriefing would be as long as the Doctors and Romana's. The Time Agent had helped the two Time Lords in repairing the TARDIS, but the debriefings came quickly.

Jack was examining the console, looking over the controls and used a micro laserson probe in removing a piece of the Paradox machine links to the console before throwing it at a growing pile on the floor. Romana, dressed in protective gear, was using an oxyacetylene torch to remove the pieces of the field cage from the console. The Doctor was under the grating, disabling the paradox field cabling from the Heart of the TARDIS. Jack was delighted the old timeship was accepting of him now, but he wished that acceptance had come differently. Jack guessed the TARDIS was in too much discomfort that he barely made any difference.

The Doctor poked his head above the grating and said to Jack, " I think that's it. I've removed the field cables from the Heart sheath, try it now."

Jack's hands moved across the console like a pianist working on a concerto. There was a hum of rising power, and the console started to smoke. The Doctor shook his head, " Shut it down Jack, before there's an overload."

Romana had taken off her welding mask when she realised what the Doctor was doing. " Still no luck."

The Doctor shook his head, " No, it's like pulling weeds. Every time I remove one piece, two more seem to take it's place."

Romana looked at her work, starting to think that the Doctor would need to change console rooms. All TARDISes had a number of console rooms in their spacious interiors, it wouldn't take much effort for the Doctor to switch the temporal core to one of them and allow the TARDIS to heal itself. Looking at her work she saw that her efforts were more effective that the Doctor's, but she needed to remove the cables from the Heart to allow the TARDIS to properly repair herself.

The Master had made a serious mess; it was bad enough he'd brought the Toclafane back, the dimensional tear caused the most damage. The Master had needed to separate the two systems and only allow power into them both. Romana was dealing with the Toclafane side of the remains of the Paradox machine while the Doctor dealt with the part that had brought Rose through, and both Time lords agreed that even though the Master had made a mess of the ship he'd known what he was doing.

The Doctor looked sadly at the TARDIS. He knew that the TARDIS would need time to recuperate and she couldn't do that if they used this console room. He wasn't going to give up though. There was no way he was going to use a TARDIS with paradox machine technology added on.

Martha stepped inside the TARDIS and took in the sight of the room. The cage had been partially removed allowing easier access to the console, but there were still pieces of it here and there. Jack was at the console, looking like a garage worker except he wasn't wearing overalls. The Doctor and Romana were looking tired and not very happy with the progress they'd made. It was a testament to how little Martha understood the workings of the TARDIS that she didn't understand what was happening. Jack was human himself, yet he knew more about the TARDIS than Martha herself did. Envy sank into Martha's stomach, but she knew she couldn't do anything about it.

Romana noticed her first, " Hi Martha, what is it?"

" UNIT told me to tell you that they want you for their debriefings."

The Doctor groaned, " This isn't the best of times." He gestured around the console room. " The TARDIS is in pieces, at least I'm not working in here alone."

Seeing the Doctor about to go into one of those childish little fits of not having his way, Romana asked her friend, " When do they want us?"

Martha looked reasonably apologetic, " Now."

Romana, Jack and the Doctor looked down at themselves, seeing how disheveled they were.

The Doctor, now in a new suit, Jack, now in new clothes, and Romana, now wearing a new dress, left the TARDIS and went towards the administrative wing of the UNIT base. A young soldier met them at the reception and took them around the base, making the two Time Lords more uncomfortable with the stares they were receiving. The three time travellers had spent most of their time in the TARDIS and trying to repair her just to get away from the stares, but when they had no choice but to leave the time machine they felt uncomfortable. Romana was always escorted by either Jack or the Doctor, this made Romana both irritated but thankful that her male friends cared. It wasn't just them, the Jones family also helped. Tish, Clive and Francine were still...wary of the Doctor and Romana as they were both other members of the same species as the Master. Martha, who knew the two Time Lords still one Earth better than her family, told her family stories of her time travelling. Even though they'd spent a whole year with the Doctor, the Jones family had suffered much at the hands of the Master. They were trying to put that behind them, but it wasn't uncommon for the family to have nightmares of their experiences as prisoners.

The three were led into a room, where - " Brigadier!" The Doctor shouted as he rushed towards a man in his sixties wearing a distinguised suit. The Doctor embraced his old friend, uncaring about what they thought. The Brigadier chuckled as he returned the embrace. Romana smiled at the sight of the skinny Doctor hugging the old man. Romana had heard stories of Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, and she was delighted he wasn't anything like the present day soldiers.

" Doctor, it's good to see you again. I like the new regeneration, just like Sarah Jane said. Young, but still the same." The Brigadier said warmly.

The Doctor broke the embrace looking at his old friend with a smile, " You've met Sarah?"

" Of course," Alistair replied, ignoring the impatience coming from the other members of UNIT. " Sarah Jane told me of your encounter with the Krillitanes a year ago." The Old man looked solemn and sad for a moment as he added, " I was also told that you were the last of the Time lords."

The Brigadier had been around for a long time, he'd seen the various alien races from beyond the stars and even those beneath the ground. Out of all of them the Time Lords were the most mysterious and enigmatic, it had taken Alistair years to glean enough information out of the Doctor just to know the basics of the Time Lords. It was strange, even when exiled to Earth, the Doctor was reluctant to give information about his race to UNIT. Then again the Time Lords themselves were far from conventional, not like the Cybermen or the Silurians. Those two races the Brigadier understood; the Cybermen wanted to survive by converting Human beings into emotionless creatures like themselves. The Silurians, still clinging to outdated beliefs about Humans, wanted the planet back for themselves.

The Time Lords...

Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart had gathered enough information about the mysterious and powerful race over the years. He knew that the Time Lords had to be an old race, how else could they have gained power over time and space if they hadn't worked for it? They had the power to change their appearances due to injury or illness; he was aware too that the Doctor was now in his 10th incarnation, thanks to Sarah Jane Smith. They were also a deeply civilised race; the Doctor had argued hundreds of times about the approach of UNIT barging in guns blazing. The exception to that was the Master, a truly nasty piece of work. Alistair had been brought in because he was an expert on Time Lords, well the closest UNIT had to an expert because the Time Lords had never sat down with any member and told them about themselves. The Doctor had told Sarah he was the last of his race, but it seemed he'd been premature; the Master had survived. That made sense, the Master had the survival instinct of a cockroach. Then there was the beautiful woman with the Doctor. He didn't know how old she was, but he could see that her eyes held the same youth as the three Doctor's he'd worked with. Even this Doctor had a spark of youth in his eyes, but it was slighter than it had been. The stress of being on his own had clearly taken its toll on the usually energetic Time Lord, the Brigadier was sad to see.

The most unusual thing about the Time Lords was their time machines, their TARDISes. Bigger on the inside, and capable of travelling throughout time and space. That was what worried the Brigadier, the Doctor's TARDIS was still on Earth, and UNIT wanted to know if it was a threat. Like the Doctor, Romana, Jack and the Jones family, the Brigadier had noted the rather...unsettling way UNIT was regarding the Doctor and Romana. They were aware of course of the alternate timeline the Master had created and conquered the Earth, but it was as if they expected the Time lords to attack them and carry on with the Master's work. The Brigadier had watched the Master, or Harold Saxon as he called himself in this latest disguise for power, threaten the people he'd locked up on the Valiant, and couldn't help but see the UNIT commanders point. He didn't like it but he understood it.

" Please be seated," Alistair said gesturing towards the three seats infront of the table where the other commanders sat. The Brigadier was the only one not in uniform, but everyone could see the sense of military in every step he took, the way he spoke even when he was relaxed.

The Brigadier, being the most senior, started off with introductions, " This debriefing of the ' Valiant Incident' is now in session. Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart presiding. To my left," he pointed towards a middle aged woman with a strict expression and what looked like a permanent frown as she looked down her beaky nose around the room, " Major Alice O'Neil of the American Branch. To my right, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Holmes of the British branch." The last man was a younger man, with brown hair and grey eyes which were glacial and only demanded professional attention to detail. He'd have been attractive, Romana thought, if his eyes weren't as cold as ice. The debriefing started. The UNIT commanders knew only the scant details of the virtual extinction of the Time Lord race, but they didn't know the full story. Neither the Doctor or Romana particularly wanted to revisit those unpleasant memories, indeed if there was only one of them in the room it would've taken decades just to scratch the surface of the details of the Time War, but since both Romana and the Doctor had each other it was easier.

Holmes asked the first question, " Tell us how this..Time War," he said the last two words as if the whole concept was alien to him, which it was, " started in the first place Doctor."

The Doctor didn't like to think of the reasons behind the war, but he felt Romana's hand on his lap, squeezing it reassuringly, and he also had Jack's hand on his shoulder to let him know that he was there as well. Even though Jack's condition was repulsive, the two Time Lords had grown attached to him.

The Doctor took a deep breath, " It began when I was in the early days of my 4th incarnation, I was travelling with Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan, who was a member of UNIT at that point. We were separate from the TARDIS at the time, and we were in the future, using TRANSMAT technology." The Doctor didn't tell them about the solar flares or the Wirrn. The less said about the Sontaran on Earth conducting experiments the better. O'Neil frowned, " TRANSMAT?" She asked.

Holmes answered for her, " TRANSMAT, matter transmission. UNIT had met races with the power to beam people and objects from one point in space to another. We've experimented with it ourselves in labs all over the Earth."

" You shouldn't, not unless you know what you're doing." Romana cut in at that point. Races tinkering with aliens artefacts was a bad idea if you didn't know what you were doing.

" You are?" O'Neil asked.

" Lady Romanadvoratrelundar, ex president of the High Council of the Time Lords, but you may call me Romana." Romana replied.

" What's the ex president doing here?" Holmes asked curiously.

Romana had to admit they had a point. " I was deposed by the Council," she admitted, not wanting to tell them about Rassilon and his lunatic scheme until much later. " I later escaped and fled to a planet out of time. The Doctor, Jack Harkness and Martha Jones saved me. At the time I'd thought I was the last of the Time Lords."

The questioning got back to the Doctor. He explained the Time Lords had sent him and his companions to prevent the Daleks creation as their latest temporal projections at the time had shown they would wipe out all life and become the dominant species. The Doctor's mission was three fold; 1. The Daleks creation would be averted, wiping them out. The Doctor pointed out that even the Time Lords were becoming afraid of the Daleks and their potential, highlighting that the Daleks had developed nascent time travel ability, reminding the Brigadier and the other commanders of the Styles incident when the Daleks tried to maintain their iron grip on Earth's 22nd Century conquest.

The Doctor dropped in a theory that the Time Lords had seen how good the Daleks were getting in their studies of time travel and their potential for damaging the timeline irreparably. He also told them about the time in his second incarnation when the Dalek emperor had wanted him to spread the Dalek factor through time and convert the whole universe into one massive Dalek empire. The other alternatives were to try and convince the Kaleds that the Daleks would grow to become a universal menace, the third was to alter their genetic development so then they wouldn't become an aggressive race. In the meantime he would try and find a weakness that could be exploited should he fail.

The Doctor told them of Davros, the evil crippled genius who'd created the Daleks. He told them and the Jones family who were only just realising how complex the Doctor and his life was.

The Doctor told them how he'd tried all three options when the Daleks, under Davros' command, destroyed the Thal city, giving a basic summary of the war the Kaleds and the Thals had been locked in for thousands of years and what it did to the planet. Davros' betrayal of his race was also stated, how he'd used that to his own advantage. The Doctor left Skaro, the Daleks were born and there was nothing he could do about it.

Romana wrapped an arm round his shoulder, comforting him. The Doctor welcomed it, the memories of what he was remembering and explaining were becoming too much. The Doctor had always thought he was to blame for the disaster that the Time Lords had forced on him.

For a while no one spoke, they were wrapping their heads around the whole thing. They could see clearly the Time Lords had made a massive mistake in sending one man in stopping the Dalek threat. UNIT had a basic knowledge of what the Daleks could do, but they knew enough that they were a deadly threat. The Battle of Canary Wharf had seen the Daleks kill hundreds of people, excluding the Cybermen. Fortunately it had given UNIT the opportunity to examine the technologies Torchwood had scavenged before Torchwood could reorganise. UNIT had taken hundreds of samples of computer date from Torchwood and pieces of scavenged technology, but they didn't abuse it the same way Torchwood did. UNIT knew better than Torchwood.

Finally the Brigadier said, " Carry on Doctor, what happened next?" The Brigadiers voice was calm and controlled, he was trying to imagine the Doctor trying to commit genocide, and he could easily imagine how torn the Doctor must've been to carry out such an assignment.

The Doctor sighed, " There was a Cold War period between the Time Lords and the Daleks, but I think I did some good when I tried to carry out my mission."

O'Neil was intrigued, " In what way?"

" Before my mission, my earlier encounters with the Daleks showed them as more cunning. In the new timeline they seemed to have lost some of that cunning, they'd become more like the Cybermen. They were more logical, more machine like. Indeed, my next encounter with them showed them fighting another race of robots, the Movellans. In the past, the Daleks would've been able to destroy and crush the Movellans, taking the empire they'd created and adding to their own territory. Instead the Daleks fought them for centuries, their battle computer working logically. Let me and Romana show you what I mean. Romana." The Doctor added, looking at the Time Lady.

Romana knew what the Doctor wanted to do and indulged him. They played a small game of Scissors, Rock, Paper. Everyone in the room saw Romana win first, then the Doctor, then Romana again. Finally the Doctor stopped and explained, " Romana and I have just shown you all what battle computers do, with humanoid races they program their computers differently. Robotic species like the Daleks and Cybermen on the other hand, don't. Their programming is purely logical. One computer makes one move, the other one immediately anticipates and counters it. As a result the Daleks and Movellens were locked in a logical impasse, unable to fight back, prolonging the war. Add to that the Movellans had the power to recover from Dalek gun shots and you've got a power enemy. The Daleks wanted Davros so then he could reprogram their computers and give them the edge, they knew what it was. Intuition. They just didn't know how to implement it. Similarly the Movellans wanted me to do the same when I deduced they weren't organic like they appeared. Naturally I refused, then both races were destroyed and Davros was imprisoned for crimes against all sentient species. Most of the cold war revolved around Davros in some shape and form. The war between the Daleks and Movellans continued, don't ask how long, but the the next time I saw Davros, 90 years had passed. The war was over at that point, the Daleks had lost."

Realising that the Doctor wasn't going to get to the core of the Time War soon, the UNIT commanders were nonetheless intrigued by the new intelligence they were receiving.

" How did they lose? I mean, if their computers were unable to lock on - " Holmes asked then the Doctor answered the question he was seeing coming.

" I think the Movellans on the ship I was on was sending information and recordings of my meeting with them back. Logical, if you don't get the person who could give you victory then settle for the next best thing. Like I said, the Daleks, being partly organic, knew what it was they'd lost, but the Movellans weren't organic. After seeing their recordings, and realising that they themselves couldn't reprogram their computers because they didn't have that knowledge, they looked for a different solution. They found it." The Doctor said, looking grim.

" What was it?" O'Neil asked impatiently.

" Ironically, the Movellans used one of the Daleks' old weapons; biogenic weapons. They created a virus that works in two ways. The first attacks the life support machinery in the Dalek casing. The life support system was eaten away, and attacked the mutant itself. Not an easy thing, considering the Dalek casing is designed to repel viruses. When I next encountered the Daleks the race was virtually destroyed, the fleet was gone. The empire was shattered. Some survived, they went to separate parts of the universe to escape the risk of further infection and work on a cure." The Doctor explained calmly his face still grim, " They revived Davros from suspended animation and hoped he'd cure them. He worked on a cure, but he also worked on another plan."

Even the Brigadier was becoming tired of these guessing games as he said impatiently, " Kindly stop speaking in riddles Doctor, what else was Davros working on?"

The Doctor looked down at his hands for a moment before he looked back up, " You have to understand Davros. Davros came from a society that was embracing racial purity, when I first met the Kaleds they'd banished their genetically wounded out of their city and were doing the same to their children, even when mutations were becoming more and more common. Davros was nearly killed by a nuclear blast himself, only his scientific brilliance saved him from his races persecution. As time passed, Davros experimented on the mutations, realising they were irreversible. He took living cells and accelerated them to determine the final form of the species. Those results would give birth to the Daleks, development of the casings they use for travel and defence. But Davros himself was a racist, he believed wholeheartedly in the racial purity of his species, and he preserved that in the Daleks genetic programming. But Davros lost himself in fantasies." He looked down at his hands again. " Some time ago, I met an alien collector who had a Dalek in this stupid alien museum, the bloody fool tortured the Dalek, when I came on the scene in broke out and killed everyone. But Anyway," the Doctor said, waving a hand dismissively, " the collector asked about who created them when I told him they were genetically engineered, with all emotions except hate removed. I told him it had been done by a genius, a man who was king of his own little world."

Romana snorted, drawing attention to herself, " Sounds like Davros to me."

" Yeah," The Doctor agreed with her before carrying on, " The Daleks losing the war was unacceptable to Davros, making him realise their limitations, the fact they didn't understand emotion. The mistake Davros had made was to make them totally ruthless, this restricted their ability to cope with aliens who relied not just on logic, but on emotions. Davros would later change all that with new races of Daleks, with him as their emperor. Then there was the Daleks own plan, they wanted to conquer Gallifrey, and they knew the Time Lords would have access to the virus, which explains why they needed a cure." The Doctor's eyes and face became masklike, " That was the first time the Daleks specifically targeted my homeworld, they were planning on using me and my companions and duplicating us, and sending them to assassinate the members of the High council, leaving Gallifrey wide open to the Daleks invasion. With Gallifrey in their power, the Daleks would be able to conquer the whole universe, have the time travel technology pioneered by the Time Lords. Nothing would be able to stand in their way. With the help of a duplicate, the Dalek ship and the space station Davros was imprisoned on was destroyed." The Doctor looked down, memories of Tegan's departure still in his head.

The debriefing the Doctor went through took 2 hours. He told them about the Dalek factions and their internal warfare, he handed a brief summary of the events on Tranquil Repose and how Davros had used human corpses to create a new Dalek army, and create a cheap foodstuff. The people in the room were sickened by the atrocities Davros had committed, even when they hadn't been committed yet. Then came the Hand of Omega incident. The Doctor started that one off by giving a basic history lesson of the Hand, what it was capable of doing and what the Time Lords had used it for. The UNIT commanders, including Lethbridge Stewart, were surprised that the Time Lords had had the power to destroy suns and turn them into supernovas. The Brigadier recalled the meeting with Omega, and what had happened to him to get him in that state in the first place. The Brigadier accepted that to have a power source then some sacrifices needed to be made.

The UNIT commanders secretly wished the device was still around, they didn't like the idea of the Time lords having such a weapon. The Doctor outlined what his seventh self had done, how he'd tricked Davros and the Daleks, manipulating events so then the planet Skaro would be destroyed.

The Doctor finished that part off with a note, " At that point, seeing how fluidly the Daleks were able to travel through time, they were indeed approaching the level of the Time Lords."

The Doctor had a potted knowledge of the Time War, so Romana took over the whole thing. She explained how the Daleks had taken her prisoner, forced her to become a slave, working in conditions that would kill a normal human being. Then she came to the Faction Paradox, the voodoo time travelling cult, how the Time Lords thought they were enemy the Time Lords had foreseen that would destroy them.

Romana told them about Compassion, the living TARDIS, earning a scowl from the Doctor. Even now, even when the Doctor had forgiven her, he wasn't happy about how Romana and the other Time lords had treated him and Compassion. Between the pair of them, they gave the UNIT commanders the full run down of what happened, the Doctor's travels in Compassion when he believed his own TARDIS was destroyed before discovering her again. The fall of Gallifrey, and the removal of the Faction Paradox as the enemy. The Doctor didn't go into details of his 100 years of exile on Earth, but he did tell them of the restoration of the Time Lords.

Then it came to the Time War.

Jack and Martha, although aware of the conflict, knew very little about its origins. They were horrified by it. The war started when the Daleks created timelines with their more refined time travel technology, which was closer to the level of the Time Lords. The Daleks had stolen technology from ancient races, adding to their own power and making them into a greater threat. The Daleks had created their own equivalent of TARDIS technology, their DARDISes, and how they were war machines, not exploration vehicles like the TARDISes.

The Daleks wiped out their enemies, the Thals, the Movellans, the Mechanoids and how they targeted time aware and time active races. They were erased from the timeline, remembered only by those with access and knowledge of time travel. The Daleks dug through history, bringing from the Dark times ancient and hideous enemies and creatures the Time Lords had thought dealt with. The Time Lords were hard pressed to deal with them, the Daleks also released the Fendahl on a highly advanced race, wiping them out, and forcing the Time Lords to shove them into a pocket universe / stroke Time loop, forever locking it away from the universe.

The Daleks also brought forward the Great Vampires, who were more than happy and willing to attack the Time Lords after all the hell the Time Lords had brought them. The Time Lords had been torn with fighting the Daleks on one side, the Vampires and the other monstrosities on the other, add the races who were taking advantage of the war, only to find themselves attacked and destroyed by both sides. The UNIT commanders had to be told how serious the Great Vampires were and how much of a threat they'd been, for them vampires were monsters in horror movies. For the Time Lords it was another story, even in the debriefing even though it had been centuries since the Great Vampire wars, but the Time War had rekindled the nightmare those Time Lords had dealt with. Then Davros made the mistake of awakening the Nightmare Child, a creature that fed on the nightmares of others and gave them nightmares of the worst kind and sucked out their psychic energy, like a child would suck their milkshake with a straw. It had taken a hundred Time Lords and a hundred TARDISes to clean up the mess Davros had made. There'd been no tears lost when the creator of the Daleks was lost to the Nightmare child.

The Time War had lasted 70 years, and Romana and the Doctor didn't bore their human audience with the details of some of the war, just the basics. Then the story came to the point Romana and the Doctor knew would come.

The Master.

Romana told them the details of the Master's resurrection, making the Doctor have to explain the details of the Battle in San Francisco, and told them the Master had been given a whole new regeneration cycle since he'd exhausted the last one. The whole idea was to have a perfect soldier, and the Master was highly efficient, as the Brigadier knew well. Now he was getting an idea of the Master's involvement he was starting to see where it was going.

" The Master ran away, he was assigned to protect the Cruciform." Romana spat angrily.

O'Neil was starting to get annoyed, she'd been a serving member of UNIT for 12 years, and all members of UNIT were aware of the Time Lords and their advanced technology, but she'd always wanted to know what else they had up their sleeves. She forced herself to stay patient, " The what?" she asked.

The Doctor answered this question, " The Cruciform, one of the greatest achievements of the Time Lords. Haven't you noticed that some of the races you've met are humanoid?" Not waiting for an answer, he carried on, " That's because the Time Lords took it upon themselves to...adjust the development of sentient species. I know," the Doctor added when everyone protested, " they shouldn't have done that, but it was to stop another race from taking over the universe and doing the same."

Romana carried on, hoping to stop anymore questions about the Cruciform and other more dubious pieces of Time Lord technology, " The Cruciform fell into the Daleks hands, that meant that the Daleks could rewrite the genetic codes of the universe and create a massive Dalek race." She gave them a hard look, " Now do you see why we wanted the Cruciform safe?"

The Brigadier could see now. The Doctor had filled him in on the basics of Dalek history and philosophy, he knew how much they hated races that were nothing like them. A device like the Cruciform would make them beyond happy.

" What did the Master do?" The Brigadier asked. It was hard for him to picture the Master as a coward, but there was a first time for everything.

" He ran, to the end of the universe. He made himself human with a piece of technology called a chameleon arch. It rewrites biology, and it stores the Time lord consciousness inside a storage device," The Doctor wasn't going to tell UNIT with it's new mindset of what the storage device was, not if his suspicions were right on the money, and they usually were. He was convinced more than ever that there were other members of his race out there, and no matter what his old ties to UNIT he wasn't going to let these jumped up little tin soldiers harm any member of his race, if there were any on Earth.

" He took on the identity of Professor Yana. Yana was working on a refugee ship, and send the last Humans to a place they called Utopia. He had them build a rocket, he was a genius, but then again the Master always was." The Doctor was saying but he was interrupted.

" You sound like you admire him, Doctor." Holmes said seriously, making it sound like an accusation. The Doctor and Romana bristled with anger.

The Doctor nodded, " I admire many things about the Master," he admitted readily, " I admire his genius, in some ways he and I are alike. Someone once went so far as to claim we were the same person. In many ways we are, Time Lords, powerful, both wanted to travel and get away from the oppressiveness of life on Gallifrey, but thats where the similarities end. The Master wants to conquer the universe and rule it with an iron fist, I don't. I left my homeworld to see the universe. Yes, in some ways I admire the Master, but he's brought me a lot of grief. Because of him I've lost two of my incarnations, not deliberately his fault but side effects of his plans. He's also stolen two bodies from innocent people, causing their loved ones more grief. One of them was the wife of a paramedic in San Francisco. The Master killed her, in her husband's body. Don't you dare sit there and tell me I can't even admire one of my oldest enemies. I do, I have a grudging respect for hundreds of my enemies. The Master's one of them. Besides he's a Time Lord, one of the last ones. Can we get on with the debriefing, please?" The Doctor asked, getting irritated with the way the commanders were tarring him and Romana with the same brush as the Master. It wasn't their fault the Master was evil.

Romana took over, explaining in detail about the Councils nonchalance about the Master vanishing and the Cruciform falling into the Daleks' grasp. Romana highlighted the complacency of the council and the members that sat on it, then she came to the part she and the Doctor had been dreading.

" Who is Rassilon?" O'Neil asked.

The Brigadier remembered that time he and the second Doctor had gone to Gallifrey during that Tomb business, and he knew only a small amount about the man.

" Rassilon's the Founder of the Time Lord race, I once journeyed to his tomb with the second Doctor. There are myths that divide the general opinion of Rassilon, some considered him a hero, others considered him a tyrant. Am I right Doctor?" The old soldier asked the Doctor, who nodded.

" Yes, you're right. The version of Rassilon we met all those years ago was one side of the man. The reality was worse, wasn't it Romana?"

The Time Lady nodded, " The Council had known for years that Rassilon could be brought back to life. We had this...matrix, it housed all the minds of departed Time Lords. It also contained their biodata, the biological information of their bodies." Romana added for the benefit of the Humans.

" The Master's mind survived the battle in San Francisco, that was recovered and the biodata we had on him enabled the Council to resurrect him. I've heard stories about the Master, both on Gallifrey and in the TARDIS, and I was concerned about what the consequences would be. The Daleks may have been our enemies, but the Master could've easily joined them. He had no love for our people, which added to my concern. When the Cruciform fell, some of my fears were confirmed. Except he ran away, either because he saw that the Daleks would kill him no matter what he did, or he realised that the Time Lords were getting desperate enough to kill traitors.

" When I confronted the Council about the Master, they didn't care. The Council had something else in mind, I could see it. Not long afterwards I found out what, only it wasn't what I expected. Rassilon, one of the greatest minds the Time Lord race ever produced, indeed he created the Time Lords, the foundations of our power and knowledge. Rassilon took over the council from me. Privately I resented it, but I couldn't do anything about it. Rassilon's been an icon for our people for centuries, they simply wanted a quick and easy victory." Romana finished off.

The Doctor nodded, " Rassilon gave us that victory, at least at first. The Daleks had created multiple timelines that made fighting the war even harder. When Rassilon took over he ordered the closure of the walls of reality, the barriers that enable travel between alternate worlds, like the one I fell through when I was working on the TARDIS console, that business with Stahlman. Back then travel between alternate worlds was easy, TARDISes would simply slip sideways in time, navigating using the quantum phase shift of the other reality."

" Quantum phase - what's that?"

The Doctor sighed, " Quantum phase shift. Every reality has its own signature, like humans have different fingerprints. TARDISes can feel the phase shift of this reality, and use that as a homing beacon. That way it wouldn't get lost in the multiverse. Now the Walls have closed, only natural fissures remain, and they're temporary themselves. The order to close the walls was a popular one, it meant that we'd be able to fight off the Daleks that much more effectively."

" Rassilon sealed off these timelines, making it more difficult for the Daleks and the other enemies from making us fight on more than one front. To the Time Lords, Rassilon was close to a god. In many ways, he was. Without him there would be no Time lords, no dominion over time. For a time, Rassilon was a godsend, he managed to hold back the Daleks. Trouble is, the enemies Rassilon was used to handling didn't adapt to change the way the Daleks did. It wasn't long before Rassilon found himself facing an enemy that was more problematic, an enemy that was relentless and were the universal version of the cockroach." Romana said grimly.

The Doctor added his own contribution, " Rassilon listened to the council, people who didn't understand the war, or the Daleks. He didn't listen to the renegades. Throughout Time Lord history, there have been those that don't follow Time lord life. I'm one of them, I left the planet and my people to explore the universe. The Master also fits into this category, but he's, as you know, wanted to conquer the universe. The renegades were made generals, mostly 'cos of their experience and knowledge."

" The things you can learn as a renegade are incredible," Romana commented. " I travelled with the Doctor for 200 years, and as I did I learnt how to understand renegades and how to listen to them, to accept things when they weren't quite as they seemed." She glanced at the man lovingly, uncaring about protocol, either Time Lord or Human. " The Doctor taught me everything I know about the subject, whereas Rassilon didn't. He relied on help and advice that was hardly good for the war effort. A renegade called the Corsair was assigned to him,-"

" Ah, the Corsair," The Doctor grinned as he interrupted. " Brilliant guy. Got drunk with him a dozen times, swore I'd never do it again, but hey. We were friends. One of the good ones, the Corsair. We got drunk once and woke up in the vaults of the Bank of England - "

" Doctor, now's not the time for reminiscing about that. I still suffer from nightmares about that night. Can we stick to the point?" Romana glared at the Doctor even though she didn't mean it.

The Doctor shrunk in his chair, " Sorry Romana."

Everyone laughed when they saw the sheepish way the Doctor shrank away from his girlfriend. He looked like a little kid. Then the Doctor sobered up and looked deadly serious.

" The Corsair, as Romana was saying, was assigned to provide Rassilon with details of the war, and provide practical strategies to fight against the Daleks. As you've probably gathered, Corsair was ignored. Not a good move. The renegades were practically running the Time Lord forces, no one else had any will to do it, so we did it. If it wasn't for us then we'd have lost the war quickly rather than prolonged it." The Doctor said, glossing over and ignoring the fact he was the one who interrupted Romana.

Romana gave him a soft glare for his interruption, but she carried on. " The Doctor's right. The renegades had to use all their ingenuity to fight and keep up with the Daleks. We'd all welcomed Rassilon's return to power, his reputation as a warrior is well deserved. He stayed at home, and didn't contribute much to the war effort."

" Unlike Romana," The Doctor piped up again, earning another stern look from Romana, which he ignored. " She fought on the frontline, a true leader. She used all her knowledge gleaned from her travels, putting them to good use. Rassilon stayed at home, he seemed to believe, arrogantly, that the Daleks wouldn't dare attack Gallifrey whilst he was on it. How wrong he was, Gallifrey was attacked 5 times. Rassilon was barely able to hold them off, they grew more and more daring with each attack."

Romana wondered if they'd ever get this meeting over with soon before the dawn of the next ice age. With Time Lord lifespans, Romana knew it was only a matter of time. Romana folded her hands and carried on, hoping the Doctor wouldn't interrupt.

" As the war progressed, it grew worse. Time itself was resurrecting the dead, finding new and more terrible ways to die, paradoxes were forming around millions of races caught in the crossfire between both sides so then they'd be erased from history. There were times I was convinced I'd died myself. Then I received a message from some of the other renegades, asking me for a meeting on Earth in the 21st century." Romana said, saying the last part slowly, knowing somehow she'd get a reaction.

She didn't have long to wait. Two of the UNIT commanders immediately started to berate her.

" You arranged a meeting on a neutral world, knowing full well the Daleks could've learnt about it?" Holmes asked angrily.

O'Neil was just as angry as her colleague, " I thought you Time Lords were supposed to have sense, surely you knew you were jeopardising the peoples of Earth?"

The Brigadier was silent, he knew the two of them would have a good answer.

Romana took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. She knew, from political experience, that the Humans would need to be reassured. Pointless platitudes wouldn't do it, they'd need something more solid.

" The Time War was no where near Earth," she started, gaining her confidence through her explanation. " The Time Lords may've had an apathetic regard for other forms of life, especially those on level 5 planets like Earth, but they knew you wouldn't be able to repel a Dalek attack, especially with the new temporal weapons the Daleks had. Every time the Daleks approached a planet like Earth, the Time Lords would attack them and would try to draw their fire, and do their best to destroy the Dalek force. The meeting was held on Earth because of the remoteness of the planet."

But the Doctor seemed to be on the UNIT people's side. " I'm still not happy you had to choose Earth, you could've chosen a different planet. Why did it have to be Earth Romana?"

Romana knew she shouldn't feel betrayed by the Doctor's sudden joining of sides, but she couldn't help herself. " I wasn't the one to choose Earth Doctor. You know I wouldn't if I'd had the choice."

The Doctor and Romana sat there, and just stared at one another, then the Doctor nodded. " Alright, I'm sorry. But I'm still not happy that it had to be Earth, even though I understand and agree with the reason for the meeting."

Jack was curious about this meeting, " What was the meeting about?"

The ex Time Agent hadn't spoken until now because it wasn't his place, it was the Doctor's and Romana's. Besides he was learning more about the Time War than he'd ever had when he was a member of the Time Agency Academy. Study of the Time Lords were a required course at the Academy, the Time Lords reputation for protecting the Time Lords and their dominion over time was beyond believable. Then there was the Time War. Little was known about it, and Jack had learnt tidbits about it from his time with the Doctor. Now there was this meeting, and he was intrigued by it.

" Some of the Time Lord renegades had started to notice that Rassilon had this...scheme for ending the Time War. There was something about it that made them uneasy, and a few of them had even vanished mysteriously for no apparent reason. The Time Lords I spoke to at the meeting were from the frontline, some of them, others were on their rest shifts and could do what they liked. No one would question it, at least not back home. There weren't any traitors working for the Daleks, the policy they were following meant every Time Lord they met had to be killed.

Romana took a deep breath as she went on with it, " They told me that work was being done on the Untempered schism..."

" The what?" Alistair asked.

It was the Doctor who explained for the benefit of his old friend, " It's a gap in the fabric in reality, through which can be seen the time vortex itself. At the age of 8, young Gallifreyans are taken before it, and stare into it." The Doctor was silent as he recalled his own initiation, in the dark and cold room where the schism existed. He remembered how frightening the vortex had been, those images and sensations he'd felt and watched still sent shivers down his spine. The Doctor had to shake himself out of the memories and focus on the present day. " As we stare into the vortex, we have to stay there for a certain amount of time. If we run from it before the time limit expires, then we don't get admitted into the academy. Romana, the Master and I, along with the other Time Lords were the lucky ones. We became Time lords, spending centuries in the academy and learning about the universe."

The hall was silent as they assimilated the new insights into Time Lord culture. For the most fanciful, this was reminiscent of the Harry Potter series, the sorting hat. For Romana and the Doctor, the Untempered Schism was a major part of their pasts, the turning point in their childhoods.

As Romana told them the suspicions that her friends and fellow Time Lords, the UNIT commanders and everyone else learnt of Rassilon's insanity. When Romana told them of her capture and torture, both she and Jack found themselves having to restrain the Doctor from losing control of his temper even though it had happened a long time ago from Romana's perspective. In her hearts Romana was delighted that the Doctor was acting like this, proving their love.

Romana and the Doctor took turns going over the End of the War, and it was horrifying for everyone. The two of them had stated the Time Lords were meant to protect the cosmos, not deliberately destroy it and wipe out all life based on a theory that might not even work the way it was supposed to. Jack himself scoffed quietly when Romana described what would come from the Ultimate Sanction. Neither Time Lord admonished him for it, they knew it was beyond believable themselves and was simply a madman's desperate scheme.

Jack had listened as his two friends described the Ultimate Sanction. Jack had known little about the Time Lords, but all the legends about them painted them as super beings with incredible powers and abilities, technology that was indistinguishable from magic itself. Jack knew only three Time Lords, and he trusted only two of them, and they weren't the godlike aliens the legends painted them to be. The Doctor and Romana were not to dissimilar from Humans, they made mistakes, made assumptions, but both were incredibly smart and knew that the Ultimate Sanction was a fools errand. He was delighted that other Time Lords had realised it too, but he was sad for his friends that the only member of their race was a monster who wouldn't believe them and the sacrifices they had to make for everyone else, something the other Time lords hadn't really cared about.

Romana finished off by telling them how she managed to escape, triggering her third regeneration and a gave a brief summary of her time on the planet out of time before her rescue. The Doctor was next. With great sadness, he explained that with Romana gone and Rassilon's true colours exposed, the Time lord people were cowed into submission, and followed Rassilon like sheep to the slaughter. The other renegades were put under arrest, and in the confusion the Doctor had no choice but to destroy the Time Lords.

The Doctor didn't go into detail over the method he'd used, he told them he wired a superweapon, which was the closest analogy the Doctor could use to explain the Moment - the Moment was too complex, even for a Time Lord to understand; there was no way these people would ever understand the Moment, not to mention it's incredible power. Jack might understand, but the Doctor doubted it. The Doctor said how he'd wired it into the central power source of Gallifrey, and how he managed to send a telepathic message to his friends, and left in the explosion. The final explosion of Gallifrey, the Eye of Harmony exploded, converting millions of worlds and stars into antimatter, along with the Dalek fleet. The TARDIS had been rocked with explosions, and the radiation the Doctor had absorbed from the Eye, and the explosions in his own ship, caused the Doctor to regenerate for the Eighth time.

When the Doctor was finished, he glanced around the room. He caught Martha's eyes, and saw tears trickling down her face. It was the first time the young doctor had learnt about the details of the Time War which destroyed his people, and now she was seeing what it cost him. Now she understood why he'd never told her.

Tish was similar to Martha, she too had tears trickling down her face, but since the two of them hadn't travelled together then Tish didn't know much about the Doctor, even whilst she was a prisoner and maid under the Master's rule.

Francine and Clive had pity on their faces.

Jack was looking at him with an expression of brotherly sympathy, for which the Doctor was eternally grateful for. The Doctor knew with some relief that Jack, being a Time Agent, already had some idea of the scale of the Time War but some of the details were absent from his knowledge. Now he knew those same details the gaps were filled in his knowledge. But the Time Lord could see that those meant nothing to Jack, the immortal Time Agent saw that the Doctor had had no choice, faced with a virtually unstoppable army on one side, a violent tyrannical madman on the other with an insane plan and backed up by the corruption of the Doctor's own race, what other choice did the Doctor have?

It was Romana's reaction that frightened the Doctor most. Even though the other Time Lord knew of the catastrophic events that led up to the destruction of Gallifrey, the Doctor was frightened that Romana would hate him and never be able to forgive him for the destruction of their world. The Master had learnt about Gallifrey's destruction, and had spent some of his free time tormenting the Doctor about his actions and his decisions over the matter. If the Doctor hadn't been forcibly aged the way he had, then he'd have pointed out that he, the Master, had tried to destroy the Time Lords with the help of Chancellor Goth, but because his body was weak, and his mind was focused on the Archangel network matrices and monitoring Martha and Romana as they travelled the world alone, the Doctor had listened to the Master's taunts. Romana was different from the Master though, she hadn't run away like a coward, she'd fought until the bitter end.

That didn't mean he still wasn't frightened by her reaction to hearing the full story once more after everything that had happened. Hesitantly, the Doctor looked into Romana's eyes. There was no trace of anger, for which he was grateful for, her eyes were filled with different emotions.

Pity.

Sorrow, for which the Doctor assumed was for himself for having to make such a hideous choice, or that it should've been Romana's chore, not his. The Doctor hoped that she didn't wish she'd been the one to use the Moment instead of he. The choice he'd made should never be made by any sentient being, least of all this beautiful soul. Besides the Doctor knew how much of a Time Lord Romana was, compared to himself. No Time Lord in their right mind would make such a decision, but he had.

Finally, Love. Love for him, the Doctor, the destroyer of worlds. The Doctor didn't know if his hearts had shattered again or whether they were being remade and polished. He definitely felt different after seeing that feeling in Romana's eyes.

* * *

The UNIT debriefing ended, thankfully quickly, enabling the two Time Lords the opportunity to leave the base. The UNIT commanders, except for the Brigadier, wanted the Time Lords to remain in their custody along with their TARDIS, but the Brigadier reminded them that UNIT had no real right to hold them prisoner.

The Doctor and Romana knew UNIT blamed the two of them, irrationally, for the Master's actions and return. Luckily Jack had stepped in, taking the two of them in Torchwood's custody. Torchwood was older than UNIT, their rules went beyond the United Nations, if Torchwood wanted something from UNIT, then UNIT would have no choice but to give it to them, and their protocol, before Yvonne Hartman's reign, had been incredibly cautious. Torchwood had learnt from every alien encounter, adopting new First Contact methods as they went. Hartman had chosen instead a shoot first, ask questions later policy, but Jack had returned Torchwood to its original cause before Hartman's insane and twisted perversion. Jack had exercised Torchwood's power and secured his friends release from UNIT's dubious custody.

Jack took them to Cardiff, luckily Jack's team was out on a case and Jack went after them after they'd connected the TARDIS to the power of the rift to aid in the repair, leaving the Doctor and Romana alone.

The Doctor and Romana watched as Jack hopped on a motorbike and sped away. Alone, the Doctor shyly glanced at Romana. She looked so radiant, she could be wearing a bin liner and the Doctor would still think she was gorgeous. The Doctor held out his hand, revealing Jack's vortex manipulator. Romana gasped when she saw it.

" How did you get that?"

" Asked Jack for it. The TARDIS is still a wreck, the Master's left the solar system behind, leaving this as the only form of time travel within reason. We both need proper time to ourselves without the likes of Torchwood, the Joneses and UNIT looking over our shoulders." The Doctor held up the manipulator again.

Romana glowered at the thing, she hated vortex manipulators like most Time Lords.

" Where are we going?"

* * *

" Paris." Romana squealed with delight. The Doctor smiled at her reaction as they looked over the beautiful French city on top of the Eiffel tower, like they had all those years and regenerations ago, back when the Doctor was in his fourth life and Romana was starting her second. Romana took a deep breath of that bouquet that she had two lives ago. It was still the same. It was the first Earth city Romana had ever visited, and it held a special place in their hearts. Romana looked excitedly around, feeling turn of the Earth with her Time Lord abilities, and looked quizzically at the Doctor.

" Why have we gone back two days?"

" I wanted to get away from UNIT and make it difficult for them to track us, besides I wanted you all to myself for a while whilst Jack takes care of the TARDIS for us. What better way would you recommend we spend time together?" The Doctor explained.

The mention of UNIT filled Romana with anxiety that they'd do such a thing. " Do you really think they'd do that?" She asked.

The Doctor was silent for the moment. UNIT wasn't the organisation it was when he'd worked with and for them so many years and experiences ago. Time changed people, and UNIT was no exception.

Finally he said, " When the Brigadier was in charge, he knew that I wasn't always to blame for the Master's attacks on Earth. On the contrary, he saw me as an Ace. As time passed and the Brigadier retired from service, UNIT began to change. They became filled with politicians, that's why Alistair retired in the first place. He was a more front line soldier than someone who worked behind a desk. Oh, they're good, resourceful and filled with experience, but they're run by bureaucratic morons. I think UNIT is afraid of you and me, they want us to remain here on Earth."

Romana frowned at the reply. That made sense.

" Do you think they've had this in mind for a while?" It would make even more sense if they had, Romana couldn't see them not thinking about the matter for a while.

The Doctor sighed, " Possibly, in fact I'm betting on it. The Master's return has given UNIT the opportunity to blame us and take us into custody in one single swoop."

Romana scoffed, " We're Time Lords, not cats. They've no right."

" You know that, I know that. Jack and Martha know that. UNIT ignores that little issue. They want us so then we can do their dirty work for them so then they won't have to make decisions for them." The Doctor snapped out of his depressing thoughts and took Romana's hand. " Enough of that, we're on holiday."

" Famous last words," Romana said cheekily, remembering the conversation they'd had in Paris as they discussed Kerensky and Scaroth's time travel experiments.

The two Time Lords ran through Paris, acting like two overgrown children and making people shake their heads. Romana did cartwheels through the streets entertaining children, who laughed and clapped their hands. Then came the part the Doctor dreaded, he'd taken Romana shopping. Women, even Time Lord women, loved shopping, and Romana was no exception. For 6 agonising hours, the Doctor thought his head was going to explode. He himself had gone shopping for lighter shirts and shorts, he was tired of the same damned suit and overcoat. That had taken him less time than Romana, who seemed determined to prolong her friend's torture. She teased the Doctor mercilessly in front of the customers, who fell about laughing. To make matters worse, some of them were teenage girls, who eyed the Doctor with admiration, and the boys who were there with them on the same torturous mission as the Doctor himself, pitied his for the soul destroying hell he was going through.

By the time it was over, the Doctor left, delighted to see the sun again.

" Good god, I thought I'd never see it again." He proclaimed dramatically, sinking to his knees. Romana shook her head as she saw how much of a spectacle he was making of himself, and practically threw her new clothes at him.

" Here, you can carry these." She said. The Doctor took in the fifty something bags and boxes she was giving him, and he groaned.

That night, after the torture, the Doctor took Romana to a cinema. The film was in French but with the Time Lord gift for languages, it was easy to decipher the language. Then he took her to a lovely little French restaurant. Romana was wearing a dark blue dress with matching kitten heels and handbag, her long hair done up in a bun, whilst the Doctor was wearing a casual black pinstripped jacket and matching trousers, and red shirt with a few buttons undone. He still wore his well worn converse trainers though.

Romana filled the Doctor in on the companions she and Martha had seen during their time in the Year that never was, the hellish time of the Master's rule, as it was now referred too.

" Hold on, you met Ian and Barbara? How are they doing?" The Doctor smiled.

" Yes, they were on holiday when the Toclafane invaded. They're working at Cambridge, or somewhere like that, I wasn't listening to them at the time. They haven't aged a day." Romana added, gazing over the wine bottle at the man she loved. " Then again you knew that would happen, didn't you?"

The Doctor nodded grimly, " Yes. Taranium, when exposed to temporal energy has unpredictable effects like you know. They were adamant though, they'd travelled with me for two long years, and it was becoming obvious they'd spend the rest of their lives travelling with me if the Daleks had come after the TARDIS. It wasn't an easy choice, Romana. I knew that the time machine's radiation would have an unusual effect on them, but I couldn't keep them with me. They wanted to leave."

They fell silent, then Romana told him of her encounters with people like Jo Jones, who was nursing Brazilians when the Master attacked, Tegan, who was in Sydney, helping to tear the city apart for metal for the Master's war machine. The Doctor was saddened by that, but he was delighted that she'd been doing her best to fight back against the monster who'd killed her aunt all those years ago. Romana told him about Ace and A Charitable Earth. When it came to Peri, the Doctor was sad. His time with Peri had been especially rocky when it came to his 6th life. They had departed in a nasty and confusing point in his time.

" How's she doing?" The Doctor whispered.

Romana knew how badly the two friends had parted company, the Doctor knew that Romana had taken her from Yrcanos, but he didn't know the details.

" She's doing well." Was all Romana said.

The Doctor easily changed the subject, " When we get back to Cardiff, and the TARDIS, the ship should be repaired. But you and I must do something with these." The Doctor reached into his pocket and took out two fob watches, one was on a chain, the other wasn't. Romana gasped when she saw the mathematical / scientific hieroglyphic language of the Time Lords on both watches. She looked up with the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded, confirming her theory, " That one," he pointed to the chained watch, " was the one which the Master used. That one," he pointed to the other watch," was the watch I used when I hid from the Family of Blood." The Doctor frowned as he remembered the pain of the transformation, the...emptiness of living in the watch.

Romana still didn't get it," What're we gonna do with these?"

" We're gonna build a scanner, with Jack and Torchwood's help. A scanner wired into the telepathic circuits, channeled through the Cardiff rift, to find any other fob watch in use."

" You think there might be other Time Lords out there, hiding in the same way you and the Master did?" Romana whispered.

In truth, it had occurred to her when the Master ruled the Earth. Afterall, if she could hide on a planet isolated from the universe, and the Master hid himself at the end of the universe using the same chameleon arch technology the Doctor had used to hide from that bunch of parasites, then why not somebody else? Romana had had many friends, the thought some of them had been smart enough to see where Rassilon was leading the rest of the Time lord civilisation, and got out while they could. The thought of people like Rodan, Flavia, Damon surviving the Time War, hiding in Fob watches was overwhelming.

But pragmatism came back.

" What happens if there isn't anyone?" Romana whispered brokenly. The pain of being one of the last of her race was like a gaping wound.

The Doctor's face showed just how he knew what she was going through, " A few years ago, if someone came up to me and told me I would meet the most amazing and beautiful Time lady I've ever met, and the man I thought I'd seen the last of in the early days of my eighth life when he fell in the Eye of Harmony, I'd have laughed in his face."

Romana chuckled, " I know the feeling." Thinking of the Master made Romana ask her next question. " Doctor, when do you think the Master will return?"

" I dunno. The rules have changed." The Doctor replied enigmatically.

" What rules?"

The Doctor explained the rules of the giant chess game he and the Master had been playing for centuries, " When the Master and I fought before the incident in San Francisco, the rules were consistent. The Master would come up with some new mad plan for seizing power, I'd foil him, he'd escape in his TARDIS before coming up with something else, something more daring. More ambitious. In the days of my fourth and fifth incarnation, and around the time of my eighth, the Master had a problem. A big one. He was close to death, he'd used his regenerations up to escape a black hole, and he'd tried to destroy Gallifrey to save himself."

" I was at school when that happened." Romana put in.

" I know, you're lucky to be alive. What story did Borusa feed the public about what happened?" The Doctor asked curiously, wondering how his old teacher had explained himself out of that one. With the two most powerful people on Gallifrey dead because of the Master's plan, Borusa had been the only one left, and Borusa was many things but a decent story teller was not one of them. The Doctor had suggested, as a joke, that he say that the Capitol had suffered subsidence caused by giant mice. After the Rani's experiments, that was feasible. In fact that's what the Doctor was inspired by.

Romana laughed, surprising the Doctor, " Borusa spun some tale about giant vermin upsetting the city's foundations, but Spandrell and Engin weren't happy you weren't getting some credit. They leaked the whole story to the population, making you a hero."

The Doctor's face went stony, " I'm not a hero. I never have been. I do what I must."

Romana sobered, " I know, but how else do you think people regard you?"

The Doctor didn't answer, making Romana feel awkward. " Tell me more about these rules." She said, changing the subject.

" At times the Master would make a mistake, endangering his life. He'd already destroyed Logopolis in his scheme, and Traken, and a massive section of the galaxy. Something even the Daleks had never done. At the end of my seventh life, the Master committed suicide. He had found a way to steal my lives. He almost succeeded, but he killed an innocent man to steal my remaining lives."

" That man Bruce you were talking about during our...debriefing." Romana said quietly, trying hard not to say interrogation.

" Bruce Gerhardt, an ambulance driver. From what I learnt, a dedicated one." The Doctor said just as quietly, the anger the Master had killed yet another man just to stay alive rising in his chest until he felt sick. Taking a deep breath, the Doctor carried on, " The Master, in Bruces' body, killed Miranda, Bruce's wife."

" That's horrible."

The Doctor agreed, but he wanted to get on with what he was saying. " The Master was on his last life at the time, and he wouldn't give up. When he fell into the eye, I thought that was it. When I found out he'd been brought back by the Time Lords to fight, complete with a new regeneration cycle, I knew the rules had changed. The Master wont be afraid of death, but he'll be careful about his remaining lives. He knows the pressure of being close to death, and he wont want to go near that again. But there's another issue."

" What's that?"

" The Master knows the Time lords are gone, he knew long before he learnt the details of the Time War's end from me. He'd already built a paradox machine, brought Rose through a dimensional tear, and he created an alternate timeline, and tried to make it the primary one. With our people gone, and our power diminished, the Master was able to break the laws of time. If the Time Lords were still alive, he'd never have dared do something like that. Now their gone, and with no one but us to stop him, there's little the Master wont do."

" So the power of the Time Lords stopped him from committing those acts." Romana stated.

" Hmm, yes." The Doctor agreed.

" Do you think he'd bring the Toclafane back?" Romana asked, the things she'd seen those little bastards do terrified her. For once the Doctor didn't know, would his old friend bring them back?

" I dunno," the Doctor answered honestly. " We're dealing with an insane version of the Master, he's capable of anything. Then there's these drums he heard all year."

The mention of the drums surprised Romana; she knew about them but she didn't know much about them. " What do you think made him hear these drums in the first place?"

" I dunno," The Doctor replied again. " I know this, the Master's back. He's got his TARDIS. He's no longer afraid of retribution from the Time Lords. He's got a new life cycle." The Doctor finished grimly, " He's capable of anything."

**A/N. Please tell me what you think of this chapter. **


	31. Chapter 31 The Time Ladies of Torchwood

**The Time Ladies of Torchwood. **

_**A/N. The First bit of this chapter has suggestions of a sexual nature. **_

" Damn, Romana. I feel like I've just died and gone to every heaven in religion." The Doctor groaned. Even with his Time Lord metabolism, what he and his new lover had just done all night would make Cassanova himself go through a hundred heart attacks in rapid succession.

Romana smirked," Yes, but think of what a way to go." Her eyes twinkled suggestively. The Doctor smiled, thinking that would be a lot nicer to die from sex that from radiation poisoning. The two laughed as they cuddled in the bed of their hotel room. The Doctor was about to fall asleep again when Romana asked him a question he hadn't expected.

" Doctor, when are we going to work on that scanner?"

" Well, we've been in Paris for a day. We've got time. Why, you want to go now?" The Doctor smiled at his own suggestion. Romana hit him in the chest.

" Ow." He moaned.

" Serves you right, here I am asking you when we're going to look for other members of our people and you tease me." Romana sniffed.

The Doctor wrapped his arms around the pouting Time Lady. " Sorry."

Romana giggled.

* * *

Both Time Lords were asleep when it happened. It was a voice in their heads, and they both woke up when their telepathic senses picked it up. Both lovers jumped awake, Romana wrapped the sheets around her chest as she examined the new presence which was in the exact same part of her brain as the voices of the only other members of her race. Romana glanced at the Doctor and noticed he too was awake, he looked shell shocked by the sudden and unexpected presence of another Time Lord.

" You heard it too?" Romana asked.

The Doctor nodded briefly, examining the latest presence. He knew this one, he should since when Time Lords came close together their voices became louder, not enough for a headache, but a pleasant soothing sound. Romana shut up, seeing the Doctor concentrate on the latest presence. It was almost indistinct, like the Master's had been when he'd left for the 21st century. This one was closer, and it's temporal distance was only a day or two, most likely a day. She closed her eyes and did the same.

When they realised who it was, their eyes snapped open and they stared at one another.

" The Rani." They said together.

* * *

Paying the hotel they were staying in, the Doctor and Romana - and Romana's new things, of course - left for where the Rani's voice was coming from. The voice was now louder. It had been night when they'd left, now it was almost dawn. They'd only been gone a few hours.

Jack was waiting for them at Roald Dahl pass, he looked desperate, almost as if his world had been turned upside down. Both Time Lords knew how he felt.

" Doctor, Romana." He said briskly, coming to meet them.

" What's happened Jack?" The Doctor asked, now convinced that Jack had had something to do with the return of the Rani. He needed to know what had happened for the other Time Lady to return in the first place.

Jack explained as they walked," It's Tosh. Toshiko Sato, my computer and tech expert. She saw the TARDIS like the rest of my team, but one of the others asked what a box was doing in our base. I told them it was your TARDIS. As soon as Tosh and Gwen heard the word, it was like they'd been put in a kinda trance."

The Doctor and Romana stopped, Jack doing the same. The couple looked at one another. Two Time Ladies? Why could they only hear one? They knew the Rani could hear them too, they were saying be calm, we'll be there soon.

" So let me get this straight," Romana interjected, " Two of your staff went into a trance when they heard the word TARDIS? Then what?"

Jack sighed, " I explained that the TARDIS was a time machine, that it belonged to a Time Lord called the Doctor."

" Wait," The Doctor held up his hand as he looked meaningfully at Jack, " You used the words Time Lord and TARDIS?"

" Yes," Jack admitted.

" Then one of your people took out a fob watch, then opened it, right?" The Doctor pressed.

" Yes. I didn't know, Doctor. How could I have known?" Jack asked. The fact he'd had not one but two Time Lords in his employ for so long was unbelievable.

Jack led the Doctor and Romana into Torchwood. The Doctor looked with interest at the functionality of the base, the computers, the couches...it was like Jack, really. Torchwood London had been like an office centre, but this one was more utilitarian than that base. It was also much smaller than the base in London.

Jack led them down to a part of the base that screamed dungeon to the pair.

" You put them both down here?" The Doctor asked angrily.

He should've expected it. Aside from the Doctor and Romana, the only other member of the Time lords that Jack had met was the Master. Jack was simply looking out for his pure Human workers, but the Doctor was still annoyed that the Rani was imprisoned like this. The fact he didn't know who the other Time Lady was another concern.

" I had no choice, it was okay with Gwen, she looked really out of it, but this other woman..she's something else, nothing like Tosh. I'll leave you both down here, but I'll be watching." Jack said sheepishly before he left the cells.

The Doctor and Romana were left alone, left with the Rani. Sighing, the Doctor led them down to the only occupied cells. One of them contained a woman with long dark hair, with a vacant expression on her face. The Doctor recognised her as Gwyneth, the Welsh serving girl he'd met on an earlier trip to Cardiff.

Finally, they came to the cell where the Rani was in. As soon as the Doctor and Romana came into direct view, the Rani turned around. She'd certainly changed, her new oriental features made her looks as attractive as her last incarnation. Like the other girl, Gwen, the Doctor had met her before. She was that doctor she'd met when the Slitheen had taken a normal pig and sent it dive bombing to the planet. That girl was nothing like the Time Lady the Doctor was seeing at the moment.

" Hello, Rani." The Doctor whispered.

The Rani was silent for a moment, taking in her two fellow Time Lords. " Doctor, Romana. How long am I going to be locked in here?" Blunt and to the point, just like the Time Lady the Doctor knew.

" We're going to let you out now, but first tell us what you remember last."

The cold hard look on the other Time Lady's face cracked as she remembered the events that led her to using that damn watch. " I'd only just made it to my TARDIS, but I wasn't the only one." Rani's voice was quiet, solemn. " Gallifrey was falling apart, but I made it to my TARDIS. As I left, the planet blew up. My body became saturated in temporal radiation from the explosion, then I regenerated, but my TARDIS, Doctor, my TARDIS was heavily damaged. She had no choice but to place my mind inside that fob watch. I was shaken from the change, when I felt the Arch on my head, it was too late, added to that being deaged to childhood. I've been trapped in that watch for years."

The Rani had been let out of her cell, and she was sitting down with the others. The members of Torchwood remaining, a quiet man called Ianto Jones, and Owen Harper, a cynical but dedicated doctor, and Jack, watched her cautiously. Rani had caused quite a mess before they'd managed to lock her up. Jack wondered where the Doctor was, and wondered if he was inside the TARDIS. That didn't make sense, surely he'd want to stay with Rani first.

" What I don't understand is, how is it that Tosh had a mother? She also worked for UNIT at one point, how could she've stayed Human for so long?" Jack asked.

Rani sent him a withering look, the disdain she had for his immortality making her voice more cutting. " Sato's parents adopted Toshiko, and they told her when she was thirteen. But she still loved them unconditionally. As for UNIT, I doubt Toshiko was in much of a position to recognise the name Doctor. It's a common enough title."

" What about Gwen?" Owen asked quietly.

" We search her flat for the watch, we must know who she is." Jack decided.

Romana caught Rani's eye. They both knew where the Doctor was, they just decided not to tell Jack and his team.

* * *

The Doctor sighed as he held the watch in his hand. It had taken him the best part of an hour to find the damned thing. Gwen Cooper, as her human persona was called, had kept the watch in a simple wooden box. That was the trouble with the type of perception filter the fob watches used, they put in the desire to bury the watch so then they'd be undetected. Some Time Lords would simply carry them as a sort of keepsake, Rani and the Master were certainly in that category.

The Doctor took a breath, and gently put a finger on the watch and connected to it with his telepathy. He listened to the voice for a moment, and pulled away with a smile.

* * *

" Where's the Doctor?" Jack asked, getting worried about the Doctor and the possible trouble his friend was getting himself into now. The two Time Ladies were calm, but they wondered why Jack wouldn't automatically believe that the Doctor wasn't already at Gwen's flat and looking for the watch. The news of another Time Lord would make the Doctor desperate. Their calm was convincing Jack and the other members of Torchwood they knew where the other Time Lord was, but in their minds they'd opened up a telepathic conversation. The Time Ladies would've spoken verbally if the humans weren't around to listen in. Rani's question was the one Romana had expected.

_Are we the only ones left? _

Rani's question wasn't a surprise. Romana had expected it, but she'd wanted the Doctor to come back and deal with the other Time Lady before they got down to business. Romana decided to get on with it, but she'd expected the Rani to hear the Master's voice by now. She opened the link with the Rani.

_No. __Another __survived, __someone you __know __well __during __your __time __at __the __academy. __The __Master. __He __fled __to __the __end __of __the __universe, __made __himself __Human __so __then __neither __side __would __find __him. __He __returned, __and tried __to __force __an __alternate __timeline __into __becoming __the __primary __one. __He __built __a __paradox __machine __inside __the __Doctor__'__s __TARDIS __to __bring __back __in __time __the __twisted __remnant __of __the __Human __race,__who'd become __disembodied __heads __in __shells.__Bit__like__the__Daleks._Romana said through the link.

It was almost impossible for Rani not to hear the Master's name and not react, her hatred of the other Time Lord filling her. _That __parasite __survived? _Rani screamed through the telepathic link. Romana winced at the rage she was feeling from the older Time Lady.

_I__'__m __afraid __so,_Romana replied.

Just as the Torchwood people were about to make a move to find the Doctor appeared as the vortex manipulator landed him inside the hub. Jack the others jumped, their guns ready.

" It's alright," Rani jumped up, she knew from her memories of Toshiko's time as a member of Torchwood that these people sometimes went in guns blazing first and then asked questions later. The last thing the Time Lord race needed was the Doctor being shot down as he materialised.

Jack angrily stalked over to the Doctor, " Where the hell did you go?"

" Where do you think I went, Jack?" The Doctor asked calmly. " I went to find another member of my race, and I did." The Doctor showed him the fob watch he'd picked up. Jack moved back as if the Doctor was holding something hot infront of him, the Time Agent's hand moved slowly to his gun. Even though he wanted the Doctor to find other members of his people, the last thing Jack wanted was a female version of the Master to appear. He was going with caution.

The Rani stood up, " Do you know who it is inside that watch?"

The Doctor's smile surprised them, " Oh yes!" Turning to Jack, the Doctor said, " Bring her up here, I don't want to awake her in a cell. She wont appreciate that."

Reluctantly, Jack left for the cells. Owen and Ianto following, the two men wanted answers. Owen started, " Jack, who are they? First there's this big blue box that you call a TARDIS, next thing we know Tosh isn't Tosh, but an alien called the Rani. Now Gwen's found to be a member of the same race. What's happening?"

Jack leant against the wall, a breath escaped him. " There are legends among the Higher races of an almighty race of people that mastered travel in time and space. These people created machines that travel effortlessly through space and time, the box is one of them. This race was the oldest and most powerful race in the universe, or at least they were. This race was called the Time Lords. They came from a planet called Gallifrey. The Time Lords looked down on the universe, observing all races. Finally they fought a war with another powerful race, the Daleks."

Both Ianto and Owen had heard that name before, it didn't take them long to place the name, " Those pepperpot things that fought in the battle of Canary Wharf?"

Jack nodded grimly, " The same. The Daleks fought the Time lords, showing them that they'd become complacent. The Time Lords fought a good fight, but they were losing. Finally they were destroyed, their planet gone. Only 5, that I know of, survived. 3 of them, soon to be 4, are here. Another Time Lord left Earth a while ago."

" What'll happen, Jack, to Gwen?" Ianto asked.

Jack sighed sadly, " Gwen never truly existed guys, she's just an illusion. The watch the Doctor had contains this Time lady's true personality. From the way the Doctor's acting, it's someone he knows."

It was sad for the three men to know that Gwen wasn't the person they thought she was, part of them wanted to stop this from happening. But it would be cruel of them to do that.

Memories assaulted the nearly catatonic Gwen Cooper as Ianto, Owen and Jack solemnly escorted her up to where the three Time Lords were waiting.

" _Some__day, __I __shall __come __back. __Yes, __I __shall __come __back...__" _The voice of an old man was saying.

" _I __want __to __stay!__" _A girl's voice shouted in her mind.

Another memory assaulted her, this time showing her on a barren piece of land. Nearby was a short, stocky man with black hair flecked with grey, he looked like the devil himself. He was weak, but his will was strong. He held in his arms, like a baby, an object.

" _No! He yelped. It's my tool to power! You can't have it! You can't! His voice sounded weaker, like he was putting all his strength into his shout. _

_A girl glared at him coldly, and Gwen realised with a shock that this girl was her, somehow. How could it be though? Gwen didn't understand it. " I'm destroying it in five seconds," she stated. " If you're still holding it then - so be it!" Gwen shivered, her mind unable to comprehend what was happening. _

The memory shocked Gwen, and she managed to pull herself out of it in time. As she did she saw the people nearby; a tall handsome man with messy hair, a beautiful woman with dark blonde hair and green eyes. The other one was Tosh, but this woman was different. Identical to Tosh in every way, this woman was more confident than her best friend.

" Tosh, what's happening?" Gwen asked. She was scared, not just because of the memories, the way her friends were treating her were making her think she'd done something wrong. Her mind was in tatters.

Rani folded her hands, " It's alright, Gwen." She said, she could see how the girl was scared, and didn't want to alarm her.

The Doctor sighed, and he stood up. He walked slowly towards Gwen so as not to startle her. He held up the watch and opened it. Gwen had no time to react as a stream of gold light encompassed Gwen, and entered her before vanishing. The woman took a deep breath, then blinked. The other three Time Lords heard a new voice in their heads as the Time Lady was awakened. She looked at her hands, as if she'd never expected to see them again, then she looked round and caught sight of the others. She ignored Jack, Ianto and Owen, focusing on the Time Lords.

" Grandfather?" She whispered when she caught the Doctor's eye.

The Doctor's eyes were filling with tears. He'd dreamt of being reunited with his granddaughter, Susan, since the war ended. He'd honestly thought she was dead. He nodded, holding his arms open. With a cry of 'grandfather' Susan leapt into his arms. Romana and Rani shared a smile before they got up.

" Hey, what about me?" Rani asked sounding hurt.

Susan looked into Rani's face, " Grandmother?" Rani nodded, tears in her own eyes. Susan leapt at her, squeezing the life out of her. Romana coughed, getting Susan's attention.

Susan was in hugging mode as she hugged Romana as well.

The members of Torchwood left to run errands, but the Time Lords didn't really care. They were just delighted that they were together again.

" So Gallifrey's truly gone, the Time Lords tried to go through with the Ultimate Sanction?" Susan asked sadly.

The Doctor nodded, " Yes, I managed to use the Moment to stop him. I managed to reach my TARDIS and leave, as I did the Eye of Harmony exploded, saturating my body with radiation. I regenerated, believing I was the Last one. Then I met Romana, and later the Master."

Susan jumped at the mention of that hated Time Lord. " You met the Master?" She growled.

The Doctor knew the history between the two of them, the Master had unleashed a group of Daleks in the aftermath of their 22nd century invasion of Earth, all to steal a matter transmuter. The Master stole the device that could change any material into something else, he'd wanted to use it to hold the cosmos to ransom. The Master then made two fatal mistakes - he'd shot David Campbell, Susan's human husband. The two of them had had problems, with Susan's Time Lord DNA she didn't age like a human, so she had the same appearance as she did when the Doctor had left her on Earth. David, on the other hand, tragically aged. The Master shooting him had stopped the two of them from reconciling with each other.

Secondly, the Master hadn't realised Susan was a Time Lady. That mistake cost him dearly. Susan had destroyed the matter transmuter, and the Master had become a crippled burnt out corpse, one that would dedicate himself to renewing himself. Susan stole the Master's TARDIS, and made it hers. Understandably, there was an enmity between them.

" He hid at the end of the universe, hiding his mind inside a fob watch, like you two did. He returned, stole my TARDIS, and fled to 21st century Earth after I locked the controls so he couldn't leave that time and move freely through time and space. The Master made many trips into the future, seeing what happened to the end of the Human race. He saw them, I think he had a hand in making them what they became, become a race that makes the Daleks look tame. They retreated into spheres, discarding their humanoid forms until they were left with just a head, and became a race he called the Toclafane." The Doctor explained, knowing Rani would react to that. He wasn't disappointed.

Rani scoffed, " What? The Toclafane, and I thought he hated nursery rhymes."

" I know, Rani. But that's what he did. He came up with this insane plan to use them to conquer their own ancestors. He built a paradox machine inside my own TARDIS, and drew them back to this time. For a year in an alternate timeline he tried to force into becoming the primary one, the Master ruled with a reign of terror, with one plan. To create a new Time Lord Empire." The Doctor shook his head at the sheer stupidity of it all.

The other Time Ladies couldn't believe this, " A new Time Lord Empire, is he mad?" Rani asked rhetorically; she knew how questionable the Master's sanity was. She'd spent 30 years locked in the same TARDIS with him after a confrontation with the Doctor's sixth incarnation. Sent hurtling towards the outer reaches of the universe, the danger in the Rani's TARDIS was compounded with a growing rapidly thanks to time spillage. The dinosaur's neck broke on contact with the ceiling of the Time machine. The Master claimed, like a fanatic who'd met his god, that he was indestructible. The Rani, the Doctor and the Master had been friends at one point, centuries ago on Gallifrey. The Rani recalled how arrogant she'd been then, but her arrogance meant nothing to the growing insanity of the Master. When she was exiled from the planet, and forced to travel the universe, she heard stories of the Master, how he ignited interstellar wars, how he'd threatened the fabric of the universe with the destruction of Logopolis. When she'd met the Master, she'd been in her 2nd incarnation, her previous life. Now in her third life, Rani winced at the biting remarks she'd hurled at the already unstable Master, but it made no difference. The Master had obviously reached new heights of madness this time, building a dictatorship whilst perverting the very image of the Time Lords was just like him.

Susan's voice was filled with disgust, " After he runs away like a coward, how can he call himself a Time Lord?"

Romana shook her head, " I don't know. He took over after we'd arrived 18 months after he'd arrived," she added looking at the Doctor in annoyance. The Doctor held up his hands, " Hey, I'm not perfect. We didn't arrive on another planet did we?"

" No, but we could've arrived much earlier in the past." Romana said hotly, haunted by the memories of what she and Martha had seen on their year long journey.

Susan and Rani were amused by the bickering. Grandmother and granddaughter looked at one another and they knew the Doctor and Romana had gotten together at last.

" Grandfather, tell us what happened next." Susan asked quietly.

For the next hour the Doctor and Romana laid it all down, the activation of the paradox machine, the Toclafane attacking and killing their ancestors. The subject of Rose came up with the Doctor informing his old schoolmate and his granddaughter the kind of person Rose had been when she'd lived in their reality. Rani had jumped up in annoyance that a mere human had down the unthinkable and took the time vortex into herself, but she was delighted when she heard the part of her destroying the Dalek emperor. Romana took over and told her fellow Time Lords about her journey around the world, the nightmare the Master had created.

Rani was thoughtful, " This version of the Master, describe him. What was his character like in this regeneration?"

" He's just as cold, morbid, arrogant, vain and egotistical as he was in previous lives. He's not the dignified Time lord my third life fought continuously, he's the polar opposite. That Master was careful, he wasn't wasteful. This version of the Master was the sort of person that would kill someone, anyone on a whim. This Master is more like myself in my present incarnation, I know that I'm a bit crazy. I talk too much. This Master's the same, only his manner is more psychotic. I think it's a side effect of regenerating inside my TARDIS, the only safe place he could regenerate." The Doctor replied after a moment's thought.

The newest Master's personality was disconcerting to the Doctor; it was like meeting an evil twin with the same personality traits. The Master had been bombastic, loud and brash, but he was still the same iron fisted tyrant the Doctor knew him to be.

Romana carried on with her story seeing as Rani, Susan and the Doctor were too busy thinking about the Master. She told them about the near misses, the meetings with those previous companions; Susan had asked how Ian and Barbara were when she found out Romana had met them. Romana and the Doctor finished when they described how they'd used the psychic network, amplified by the Human race, to rejuvenate the Doctor to his youthful appearance. Grimly, Romana told them how the Master escaped.

Susan was grim, it was strange seeing such a normally bubbly Time Lady so grim. " So the Master's free to do whatever he wants, without the fear of the Time Lords stopping his more insane plans? Aside from us, he's the only member of our race left." Susan finished sadly. How could the Time lords be brought down like this?

The Doctor broke through her thoughts, " Actually we," he gestured to the woman sitting next to him, " don't believe we're the last Time Lords, the only ones aside from the Master. That's why we wanted to come here before you, Rani, returned." The Doctor leant forward and explained, " My TARDIS is still repairing herself, with our help of course, from the damage done by the Master. Can you feel your TARDISes?"

Rani and Susan concentrated on their TARDIS links. " Yes, I can feel mine." Rani replied, delighted her customised Time machine was in one piece. Susan nodded, " Mine too, grandfather."

The Doctor smiled, " Good. Tomorrow you can bring them here."

" Here?" Susan asked puzzled, wondering why her grandfather would need both of their TARDISes.

The Doctor nodded, " Yeah." He dug around in his pockets and brought out the fob watches, and the ones belonging to Rani and Susan. Rani got it quickly, and she smirked. " Good one."

Susan got it now too, " Yeah, link our TARDISes to the rift with these watches and find any telepathic traces."

" There's one problem though," Romana said breaking in, " how do we wake the Time lords up?"

The others were silent as they worked out the problem. Finally the Doctor asked, " What words describe a Time lord, would be noticed by a Time lord whilst being ignored by everyone else?"

Susan was the first to guess, " TARDIS, Time vortex, regeneration. Gallifrey. I see, you intend to broadcast those words through the rift as an activation signal."

" Yes." The Doctor replied. " We do it tomorrow. Me and Romana need to check on the TARDIS."


	32. Chapter 32 The First Ones Part 1

**The First Ones. **

Susan walked inside her grandfather's TARDIS, smiling at the familiar warmth that the old ship held for her. Memories of leaving Gallifrey came unbidden into her mind, Ian and Barbara stumbling into the TARDIS where they met the Thals, the Daleks, the Sensorites, that time they were shrunk to the size of an inch.

The Doctor and Romana had shut down the console room the Master had abused and cranked a new one into the position of the temporal core. The old control room would repair itself, though it was truly doubtful if it would be used again.

Romana was checking over the TARDIS systems when Susan walked in looking around. She smiled warmly, but shyly at Susan. The two Time Ladies had known each other, fought side by side against the Daleks. Although Romana had better qualifications than the Doctor, Susan was a prodigy compared to her. The Rani and the Doctor had taken it upon themselves to train and teach the girl, and Rani had been a hard taskmistress. By the time Susan had been in her 80s, she had already mastered arts and abilities Time Lords 3 or 5 times her age learnt.

Susan seemed happy for her grandfather's new relationship, but Romana still worried about it. She enjoyed the friendship with Susan, and she didn't want to lose it. Susan was important to the Doctor, and Romana didn't want the Doctor to choose between her and his granddaughter.

" Hi, Susan," Romana said brightly, but her uncertainty stopped her from saying anything else.

Susan smiled back, then her smile faltered slightly when she saw the concern on the other Time Lady's eyes. " What's wrong?" She asked. Startled by the ease Susan saw the uncertainty on her face, Romana sighed when she realised that it would do no good to hide her worries.

Susan walked over to the woman she hoped would be her step grandmother and took her hand in her own, " What's wrong?" she asked again.

Romana looked away, hoping that she wouldn't sound like a child, " I'm just worried about forcing the Doctor choose between you and me."

Surprise registered in Susan's eyes, " What, why would you say that?"

Romana closed her eyes, her fears now sounding foolish even to her, but she explained them to Susan. " When I travelled with your grandfather, he told me stories about you. At the time I was a naive, foolish Time Lady, head full of Time lord propaganda. I thought he was a sentimentalist at times, but as time passed I fell in love with him. When I was called home, I saw the look of hurt and heartbreak on the Doctor's face, I thought he'd never get over it. When we fell into E - space, I thought the Doctor was beyond happy. When we met the Tharils and I stayed on to free them from slavery, I thought he would die from heartbreak all over again. I made many mistakes in my last incarnation, but we were able to make peace, the Doctor and I.

" I didn't really have time to tell him how I felt, the war took precedence over both our lives." Romana looked down, her emotions about to crack her perfect Time Lady control.

" When I met you, I saw that what the Doctor said about you was true, he told me that you were a sweet, lovable girl. He was right," Romana looked up into Susan's eyes and saw the depth of compassion in those dark orbs. " I - I didn't want the Doctor to choose between you and I when I told him how I felt, I was going to, hopefully when the war ended. But then Gallifrey was lost, I was hurled at a planet out of time, and I'd honestly believed I was the last of our people. When he rescued me, I thought '_thank__god,__I__'__ve__got__a__chance,__' _ I wanted to kiss him, but I was afraid that he only wanted a friendship. You know, love is a dirty word on Gallifrey," Romana added bitterly.

Romana's bitterness was shared by Susan. Gallifrey had been a decadent society living on the laurels of the Time Lord's many and varied scientific and technical achievements. The people were no better, the Time Lords had been like vegetables; Susan had met people before the war who called the Time Lords '_ancient,__dusty__senators.__So__frightened__of__change,_' and the sad part was they were right. The Time Lords hadn't advanced much after the time travel breakthrough, once every 150 years or so a new form of TARDIS or time travel device, but that was it.

The traditions of Gallifrey and the Time Lords were clear, but they didn't allow any leeway.

Families arranged marriages for genetic diversity, not for love. Both Time Lord and Time Lady in a betrothal were expected to be of the usual stock of Time Lord life, but love was rarely present during those marriages. There were exceptions of course, the Doctor's first marriage. It hadn't been a match made in heaven, both Time Lords had hated the dull and pointless life on Gallifrey, and the two had loved each other. But it wasn't the fairytale kind of love that was clearly between Romana and her grandfather.

Susan could understand the fear Romana had afterall, even though it was silly.

" Yes, I do know," Susan replied to Romana's bitter question. " It was the decadence of Time Lord society and a number of other issues that made many leave Gallifrey first. I know you're worried Romana, but really, you don't need to worry about me. You make my grandfather happy, and that's all that matters."

Romana didn't look convinced, tears rolling down her eyes. Susan sighed when she saw the look, " Listen, did I hate you when we fought at the Battle of Time Rift 457? Did I give off any vibes that told you I loathed you?"

" Well, no..."

" Then why would I hate you. I love you, I love you for making my grandfather happy again. I'm forever grateful for that." Susan said sincerely.

Romana smiled a watery smile, " Thanks Susan."

" Although there is one thing..." Susan went on, trailing off.

Fear gripped Romana's hearts as she whispered, " What?"

Susan grinned, delighted that she'd teased the usually controlled Time Lady, " Make sure I'm there to see you two getting married and having children."

Romana's hearts lifted at the mental image of her and the Doctor marrying and starting a family. Strange, back home she'd never thought of herself as a motherly type, but with the Doctor, she'd met kids like Adric and others. She'd adored them all. The thought of Adric, and how he tragically died made her sad, but happy in the knowledge that she'd had a child near her.

" I think we can arrange that, big granddaughter," Romana smiled.

The Doctor followed Susan and Romana into the Rani's TARDIS. It had changed a lot since the time he'd been here in his sixth incarnation, during that business in Killingsworth with the Master. The Rani's TARDIS then had been a silver version of his own TARDIS, the console had been a blackish grey, with a silver ring time rotor.

The Rani's 4th incarnation favored a more retro look, or it could merely have been the TARDIS. It mixed futurism with a Victorian laboratory. The console itself was a mix, similar to the Doctor's, with touch sensitive screens and panels, with more old fashioned levers and switches. The Doctor wondered if the last Rani would've liked it compared to the new one, but the new one didn't seem to care.

The rest of the console room was full of shelves with books, instruments and neatly arranged bottles and instruments from thousands of worlds and times the TARDIS had visited for the Rani. The Doctor remembered on his last visit the tanks with embryos, these were now absent. They could be in another part of the ship. There was a massive table with a neurochemistry set. The decor was in dark blue, making it more vibrant than the cold silver it had been before.

Rani led her fellow Time Lords over to the console where the fob watch she had hidden inside was connected to the telepathic circuits. The fob watch rested on a nest of wires that went all over the console, and plugged into the holographic scanner.

" Is it ready?" Romana asked, looking over the console and noting how well Rani had made the scanner.

Rani nodded proudly, " Yes, I just need to turn it on."

The Rani slowly moved her hand over to the switch that would channel rift energy into the watch, and use the left over telepathic energy to locate others like itself, but her hand faltered on the switch which was unusual for someone as closed off as the Rani. The Doctor gently rested his own hand on her own. Romana followed suit, followed closely by Susan. Grandmother, grandfather, granddaughter and hopeful step grandmother to be looked into each others eyes. Taking a deep breath, they activated the switch to the scanner. The sound of rising power built up and up.

Susan let go, and left the Rani's TARDIS, followed by the other three. The three TARDISes, the last three TARDISes the Time Lords thought existed still were lined up next to each other. The Rani and Susan had landed their machines near the Doctor's, and they'd connected their ships together.

Susan marched into her own TARDIS, it was less advanced than her grandmothers. The Master had, for some reason, favored Mark Two TARDISes whilst her grandmother and grandmother had, respectfully, favored a Mark One and a Mark Three in that order. Susan's TARDIS was similar to the Doctor's rather than the Rani's. The console room was circular, supported by columns with the console dominating the centre with the time rotor reaching to the ceiling, but that was where the similarities ended. Susan's TARDIS was more a living room with comfortable couches near the walls, a bookshelf next to it with a number of beanbags.

On the console rested a scanner resembling the one in the Rani's ship, except this one wasn't just wires, there were other electronic components.

" Mine's bigger than yours," Susan said cheekily at the Rani.

The Rani glowered at her. Susan sobered, and they repeated the process like they'd done in the Rani's TARDIS. The scanner was turned on, and they went inside the newly repaired Doctor's Type 40 TARDIS. The Doctor was like a nervous schoolboy, earning him looks of both exasperation from the Rani, rolled eyes from Romana, and a look of laughter in his granddaughter's.

" Okay," The Doctor said, then he hesitated when he went towards the scanner he and Romana had made using the fob watches used by himself and the Master. He was about to turn it on with the old fashioned train lever he'd found lying around, when he found Romana's delicate and dainty hand on his arm.

Slowly the Doctor looked at the woman he loved, Romana's eyes were full of love as they looked into one another's eyes.

" This is it, Doctor," She whispered, taking her hand off his forearm and wrapping her hand around the lever. Romana leant forward and caught the Doctor's lips in a searing kiss. The Doctor and Romana deepened the kiss, letting their souls mix as they pulled the level down. The TARDIS scanners and telepathic circuits, working in tandem with her sisters and the rift, did it's job.

* * *

In London, a man working in a train yard as a mechanic got up, wiping the grime and sweat from his brow. He was cursing the government for making cuts in his sector, but then he stopped as words like _" __...Time__Lord...regeneration...Gallifrey...The__Doctor...The__Rani...Lady__Romanadvoratrelundar...time__vortex...Daleks...the__nightmare__child...Rassilon...Omega...__" _echoed throughout his skull.

Almost like he was in a trance, the man reached into his pockets and pulled out a fob watch...

* * *

In another part of the country, a heavy set policeman wearing a shabby suit marched wearily but in a state of complete alertness, paused as he heard the same thing heard by the mechanic. Almost like he was hypnotised, the cop walked home. When he reached his flat he found the watch in a draw. He flipped it open...

* * *

The politician was smiling as she walked out of her meeting in parliament. When she got out, she slumped slightly. She was tired, and when she left the House of commons, she drove home in her expensive car. When she got back to her lovely townhouse, the spell hit her. Like a woman possessed, the politician walked into the house. She marched slowly to where a fob watch lay on her dresser...

* * *

The Family was sitting down to dinner when it hit them all. Father, mother, three daughters and two sons, paused as they stopped laughing. The spell echoed throughout their heads, dredging up memories. As one they left their half eaten meals, and they walked to their respective bedrooms where their fob watches had laid, undisturbed until that moment. None of the family had ever seen or questioned the coincidence of them owning such a watch.

It didn't matter when they flipped them open and they became their real selves again...

* * *

The school teacher and his adopted daughter were sitting in their house, the teacher was old and almost decrepit, but he was still keeping himself busy. The girl was smiling as she watched TV and watched X factor. They were so busy with their occupations that when the spell hit them they dropped everything...

* * *

In Tibet, the Monk sat in a meditative state. He was old, almost emaciated, but he was a powerful figure with an equally powerful will. Revered by the other monks, he had the air and calm of someone who'd spent their entire life in a monastery. But there was more to the man than that. He heard on a subconscious level the signal being sent along the Cardiff rift.

Opening his ancient eyes, the monk smiled as he heard the voices in his head. " At last..." he whispered as his voice trailed away. Closing his eyes, he focused on the mental energy, and opened his mind.

It was time for the others to hear him...


	33. Chapter 33 The First Ones Part 2

The First Ones. Part Two.

It had been an hour after the Doctor, the Rani, Romana and Susan had turned on their scanners. In that hour they heard the voices of not one, but at least 18 Time Lords, and that was only on Earth, and more voices were being heard. For the Doctor, this was a dream come true after spending so many years alone. The sound of voices, some familiar and some not, was disorientating for him.

It wasn't long before a TARDIS materialised in the Hub. The Torchwood members whipped out their guns, but they holstered them again when they realised what the sound was.

A little man wearing overalls stepped out once the machine had fully materalised. His round race looked around, taking everything in with interest. When his eyes caught those of the Doctor and Rani and Romana, his face split into a massive grin.

" Ello, Thetey. Urshas, Romana. How've ya been?" the man chuckled.

The three Time Lords in question sighed happily when they realised who this was. Drax. Before they could greet him properly, another 2 TARDISes materalised in the hub, their engines turned to siphon energy off from the rift for fuel. The doors opened, revealing an old man and a young girl from one, and a square jawed man with a rumpled suit from the other. The girl locked eyes with Susan and squealed with joy.

" Susan!" She cried, rushing to hug her friend. Susan gasped when she recognised the other Time Lady, " Pandora!"

The two girls hugged each, both speaking a thousand light years a minute. This gave the older Time Lord the opportunity to recognise the Doctor.

" Hello, Doctor. Miss Romana," he greeted.

" Salyavin!" The Doctor and Romana gasped.

Drax walked forwards, " Thought you was dead, Sal. What happened?"

Salyavin nodded, " I nearly was," he replied in his reedy voice. Like Pandora and Drax, the old Time Lord hadn't changed much. They'd obviously managed to keep themselves from regenerating. The Doctor turned his attention over to the other Time Lord.

" Spandrell?" He gasped.

Spandrell nodded with a grunt, " Pleasure to see you too, Doctor." Whilst the old Castelan was surly, there was a gleam in his eyes.

Both men clasped hands in delight. When Spandrell turned his attention towards Romana, he bowed, " Milady, it's good to see you are here and safe."

Romana smiled back, " Thank you, Spandrell. You escaped the war safely then?"

Spandrell nodded wearily, " I did, I didn't like the grief that Rassilon was giving everyone. He and the rest of the council hindered any investigation into their disappearances, no offense," he broke off, looking at Romana. The Time Lady nodded, " It's alright, the council were idiots."

Spandrell looked into the grinning face of Drax, " Oh, I might've known you'd be here." Spandrell was fond of the Doctor and Drax in his own way, but he believed they were troublesome.

Drax nodded, the grin still on his face, " Yep, bet ya thought I weren't gonna come back." Drax sobered up, " Seriously, Span, it's good ta see ya."

Spandrell grunted. Susan and Pandora giggled at the byplay between them. The Doctor walked over to Salyavin, " I can't believe you're still alive, and with Pandora."

" I know what you mean, Doctor. I wasn't expecting to still be alive, especially after my TARDIS was wrecked by the Daleks. I bumped into Pandora, and we managed to get away before our bodies were saturated by the radiation. The TARDIS was flung into the vortex by the shockwave of Gallifrey's destruction, forcing the TARDIS to place our minds in fob watches, and put us into Earth's society." Salyavin said, then he asked the question the Doctor had been dreading.

" What happened, Doctor? What happened to Gallifrey?"

The Doctor sighed, " Let's wait for the others to arrive, then we can have a meeting."

Romana looked at the third TARDIS where a family came out. Wearing human clothes, they looked surprised and stunned by the lack of telepathic contact of other Time Lords. She went over to them and introduced herself, " My name's Romana," she pointed at the Doctor, " That's the Doctor, Susan and the Rani. We brought you back. What's your names?" She asked.

The family looked at one another, then a small girl stepped forward, " I'm Amazonalia,"

Romana smiled at the girl, " Hello, Amazonalia,"

The mother stepped forward, " I'm sorry, it's all unusual. You see we ran for a TARDIS before the shockwave hit us, forcing me and my husband to regenerate. The TARDIS went into self repair mode, forcing us into fob watches."

Romana nodded, " Yeah, that seems to be the running theme of the TARDISes at the moment."

The mother nodded, slightly surprised by the lack of etiquette from her fellow Time Lord, " My name's Allia,"

The father was looking around the hub with a look of interest before he turned his attention back to Romana, " I'm sorry, my name's Azman. These are my son's Junel and Rasel."

The other two girls of the family were like typical human teenagers, but they introduced themselves as Astoria and Casset. Romana thought they were definitely teenagers. She turned her attention back to Allia. Whilst Romana and Allia had their conversation, someone else appeared, this time without a TARDIS.

In the middle of the hub, a man wearing the habit and robes of a Tibetan monk appeared, making Susan and Pandora, who'd introduced themselves to Astoria and Casset, who themselves had been starved of other Time Ladies near their age - 400 to 500 that is. Emaciated, ancient he may have appeared, but everyone could see the strength in the man's body, his sheer will.

" I am sorry to have startled you, my dears," the monk said calmly but soothingly to the four Time Ladies.

The Doctor couldn't believe it, " K'anpo?"

The Time Lord nodded slowly, " Hello, Doctor. It's good that you have done as I've predicted."

" You predicted? You mean, you've been alive all this time?" When K'anpo nodded again, the Doctor whispered, " Why, why did you hide?"

" I didn't," K'anpo replied simply, " I immersed myself in the vortex, using my mind to search the cosmos for other Time Lords, and also to see the future in ways even you cannot."

Azman shook his head scornfully, " That's impossible. You can't immerse yourself in the vortex."

" We can't, but K'anpo can. He's a vortex leaper." The Doctor explained for the benefit of the other Time Lords, who now looked at K'anpo with varying emotions like fear, awe and suspicion.

When time travel had been researched and debated back on Gallifrey, there had been a number of people who felt time travel should be done in various ways. Time rooms with massive time portals that shifted one section to another point in time and space, time ships that acted like ships like those used by the Daleks, the Sontarans etc and simply passed through time, TARDISes and lastly, implanting a gene sequence similar in many ways to the Rassilon Imprimature and adjusting it so then the Time Lord wouldn't simply _feel_fixed and flux points in time, but also be able to move freely in time and space with will alone.

Research had been done in all of them, of course, but as time passed various practicality issues cropped up - for time ships it was because of the stress time travel in the vortex had on organic tissue, for Time rooms it was because the devices were static, and also because they were immobile and could, in theory and practice cause massive damage to the timeline. For vortex leapers, on the other hand, it wasn't because of fear. Even the Time Lords, with all their ordered morality, weren't exempt from prejudice. Theoretically the Time Lords were above that, but if they didn't like something then they regarded it the same way the Daleks regarded those that weren't like themselves.

Vortex leaping wasn't a highly regarded art. It was actually considered to be one of those abilities that was feared and frowned upon in Time Lord society because the talent clashed with the Time Lord's ability to restrict, regulate and control time travel. Vortex leaping wasn't like TARDIS travel, the leaper didn't need to refuel with rift energy, the leaper couldn't be contained by transduction barriers, nor could it be restricted. There were many advantages to leaping, something the Doctor had wished he'd inherited when he'd been born, but unfortunately leaping was rare, and it was more than likely that K'anpo was the last leaper in the universe, and when he died then the art would die with him.

Time Lords like Spandrell and the family had probably been told that vortex leaping was officially dead, but experienced Time Lords like the Doctor and the Rani would know enough not to be too sure.

The advantages to leaping were incredible, and they matched in some ways those of the TARDIS. A leaper can move freely through space - time, not hampered by technology, the leaper can see and perceive time like a painting that continuously changed. The leaper had powers over time and matter, something even normal Time Lords didn't have without the aid of gadgets.

The leaper's gene had been perfected by the time Rassilon came around, and with his typical desire to control, he purged the gene, forcing the researchers to put it in the Time Lord gene pool, where it was lost, until it found members like K'anpo. K'anpo's family had had a leaper, who'd managed to travel freely through time before he passed the gene on to his descendent.

* * *

" So that's it, Rassilon was going to destroy the universe?" Pandora summarised sadly.

The Doctor, Rani, Romana and Susan had spent the past hour telling the Time Lords, whose numbers now included Flavia, former president of Gallifrey, The Queen, another renegade, and part of the meeting that warned Romana what Rassilon was intending. The Priest, another traveller who hadn't fought in the early stages of the war, and had in fact tried to avoid it was present. Two surprises were Morganna and the Mistress, two renegade Time Ladies, and cousins. The Saint, a Time Lord who acted like an intertemporal robin hood, and finally, Iris Wildthyme, a very old friend of the Doctor.

The Rani nodded, " Rassilon was insane," she said bluntly, " He was doing it all for himself."

The Priest sneered. He wasn't a very well known for very well liked Time Lord. He was a thin faced man with a long narrow face, his lips were thin and pinkish, his eyes were grey. His hair was thin.

" So a renegade took it upon himself to destroy our homeworld?" he asked snidely.

The Doctor looked away, the Priest's cutting words slicing through him like a laser beam through steel. Romana shot up angrily, " Oh, and where were you? What would you have done?"

The Priest looked around the faces, many of them were angry with him. The Priest had listened to the way Rassilon's plan would've worked, but the Priest wasn't like the Doctor and the other mavericks. He'd been on an authorised exploratory mission when the war broke out, but he'd ignored the call to fight. The Priest had never liked the renegades, he was one of those Time Lords had did things by the book. Now Gallifrey was gone, the Priest had no choice but to work with this bunch.

" I don't think Rassilon would do anything like that," Priest said, ignoring Romana's questions and making the Doctor angry in turn. " I think you're exaggerating." He finished pompously.

" Then how do you explain the deaths, Time Lords who fought in the war? How do you explain the lack of action on Rassilon's part?" Rani asked coldly.

The Priest waved a dismissive hand, " Lies, rumors. They weren't killed, they must've ran away."

" No, they didn't." Susan put in.

The Priest turned his sneer to her, " Who asked you?"

" That's my granddaughter you're talking to," The Doctor snarled.

The Priest ignored him, his mocking voice turned to Susan, " Your granddaughter?" he said, referring to the Doctor's statement. " A renegade too? Well, as they say on Earth, the apple never falls far from the tree."

Drax glowered at the Priest, " Listen, mate. I watched as the Daleks destroyed the defence grid I built with me two hands," he held out his hands before he carried on, " The council did nothing, they sat back and let the Daleks destroy it, they sat back and let worlds die. Arcadia, the Monan Host, the Nestene consciousness and the Gelth. What would you have done?"

" I wouldn't have fought the Daleks. I was conscripted into fighting them, I had no choice. We're Time Lords, we should've negotiated with the Daleks." The Priest said pompously.

The Time Lords around the table looked at one another, then they burst out laughing. The Priest looked at his fellow Time Lords, " What's so funny?"

Pandora chortled, " You never fought the Daleks face to eye stalk, did you?"

" No."

" So, you never saw them kill people. People that couldn't fight because they were injured." Pandora stated.

The Priest said nothing.

" Tell us, Priest, what did you do?" Queen asked scornfully; she'd lost her brother because of Rassilon, and she wasn't in the mood for someone to spout off the madman's propaganda.

" I was an advisor. I told the council to negotiate with the Daleks."

The Doctor shook his head scornfully, " The Daleks don't accept terms. They were going to slaughter the Time Lords no matter what we did. Any negotiations would've been a waste of time."

" You don't know that!"

" I've known the Daleks for centuries," The Doctor replied softly, " They didn't accept the Thals surrender, they wiped the race out after thousands of years of war. The Thals tried to surrender when they lost the ability to fight, but the Daleks killed them all." The Doctor looked grimly into the face of the Priest, " What makes you think the Daleks would've let us surrender?"

The Priest said nothing, and was ignored for the rest of the meeting. Flavia looked around the table, " Does everyone agree that the Doctor had to do what was needed?"

Drax nodded, " I do," He looked at his old classmate, " I've known Thete since the Academy. I know that he wouldn't do this unless he had no choice, and Rassilon had certainly given him no choice."

The Priest couldn't remain silent, " I can't believe this!" He shouted furiously, " I can't believe you're letting him get away with destroying our world!"

Flavia looked down her nose at the Priest, " Then he can redeem himself by finding more of us, and rebuilding our homeworld."

The Rani cleared her throat, " I have an announcement to make," When everyone's attention was turned towards her, she carried on, " Just in case something happened to our race and our planet, I secreted on board my TARDIS 8 race banks containing pure Time Lord DNA. I didn't tell anyone because I wanted more of our people to be found for genetic diversity."

Rani looked around the faces, faces showing disbelief and in some cases - the Priest - that she would do this. But Rani didn't care, she left nothing to chance.

" Inside my TARDIS are the design plans for numerous pieces of our technology and our sciences, but I want to do more." She said.

Susan narrowed her eyes at her grandmother, " What do you wanna do?"

" Speak properly," The Priest snapped, but Susan waved him off dismissively, and focused on the Rani.

The Rani took a deep breath, " I want to make more than one Time Lord race. I want to mix our DNA with that of other races, like the Monan Host, the Chula, and Humans."

" You want to pervert our races purity?" The Priest said scornfully.

The Saint for the first time spoke up, " Our race hasn't done much good in the last few thousand years, has it? We need change in order to survive."

" But not at the price of losing our purity," Priest snapped.

Spandrell hadn't been Castelan of the Guard on Gallifrey for nothing, and he smelt trouble in the form of the Priest, " You sound like a Dalek."

The Priest was stunned into silence, and the Rani carried on like she hadn't been interrupted, " My contempt for the Time Lords began long before my exile. I travelled the universe and saw the various races, and granted I experimented on them, something I now regret. But they possessed incredible potential. That's why I wish to make subspecies of Time lords, each one with our knowledge and the ability to change and become more than we ever were. Our race lost it's way centuries ago, and the Time War was slowed down because of our lack of vision. It's time to change that."

" I agree," Salyavin spoke in his reedy voice.

" It sounds like a good idea," One of the family said.

" Yeah, I can see the advantages of a number of Time Lord races." Drax added thoughtfully.

The Priest got up, " I've had enough of this, I'm leaving." The Time Lord marched for his TARDIS and in a few moments the time machine dematerialised.

" Aren't we going to do anything?" Susan asked.

" No," The Doctor shook his head. " He'll come round eventually, or he might simply avoid the rebuilding of our race."

The Rani looked around, " So what do we do about my plan?"

The Doctor nodded, " I like the idea, but I think you should also take Human DNA from this era, and use that as a template to clone new Time Lords. This plan, the pocket watches, and the race banks, the new races, should help us rebuild the Time Lords. Any problems?" He added.

No one said a word. The Doctor nodded, " Then we're in agreement."

* * *

The meeting went on for hours, and it was decided to link all TARDISes to the rift and add to the already potent energy looking for other Time Lords. The Rani spent the next day looking for suitable worlds in her TARDIS's stellar cartography laboratory, a list of potential worlds was found with the right minerals.

But there was one world where a temporal rift ran all the way through it. The Rani thought it would be perfect for refueling TARDISes before a replacement power source for the Eye of Harmony appeared. Flavia and Spandrell with Salyavin and The Queen left for the planet with an army of robot drones to build a city on the planet, which was going to be called New Gallifrey. The Time Lords, and K'anpo, spent the next 3 days looking for new Time Lords before they moved to the planet. With two telepathic conduits in two points in the cosmos working side by side, the two parties found hundreds of Time Lords in the next month.

The Rani had taken samples from 1 million human beings for their DNA, and found that 50,000 of them had the compatibility to become clones of Time Lords. Then Rani found that by creating a virus she could turn Humans into Time lords without weeks of work. She used this on all the samples, and had more taken and mixed them into a massive genetic bank. This bank would be used to recreate the Time lord race.

In that time, the Rani was growing new Time Lords from the race banks. The Rani's plan was to use one bank at first, before she used a second and used the others to mix other DNA strands to create new races with different and varying talents.


	34. Chapter 34 New Gallifrey

**A/N - I don't own Doctor Who, but I'd love to write for it. Wouldn't you? Please read and review my story. By the way, hope you like my Christmas present! Please love it and let me know. **

**New Gallifrey. **

_A Year later... New Gallifrey..._

New Gallifrey was a beautiful planet, located behind a dark matter nebula with a temporal rift running through it. The rift was similar to the Cardiff rift, and it was used by the Time Lords in very much the same way to what the Doctor had used it for since the destruction of Gallifrey and the Eye of Harmony, only the Time lords had erected a crude transduction barrier out of the rift, and used it to protect the planet which was still developing. The city was smaller than the Capitol had been, and more open than the domed citadel of the Time lords but there were already plans to make the city even bigger. The Doctor had insisted that instead of locking themselves away like they had done before inside a mighty glass dome and dig burrows underground like giant rabbits, the Time Lords should walk proudly across the surface of their new home, something the other races did and took for granted. Romana herself enjoyed the feel of fresh air on her skin instead of the scented metallic air the citadel had been filled with, she loved the tranquility of the planet, she enjoyed walking through the forests near the city and smell the fresh air and hear the early morning bird song. It was nothing like the decadence of the Old Gallifrey, where they lived in closed off Cities and machines did all the dirty work. Everyone was doing their part to rebuild the Time Lords.

Romana heaved a deep breath, it wasn't all good news unfortunately. Only 5000 Time Lords out of 7 billion had been found that had survived the war, found in the first month of searching, some of them in watches or in temporal stasis because their chameleon arches had been damaged, or they simply put barriers around their mind which stopped their voices from being heard by races that understandably hated and feared the Time Lords for actions during or before the Time War. When they'd heard their fellows, they'd removed the blocks and journeyed to New Gallifrey. Now they were helping with the rebuilding program.

Some Time Lords held onto the hope that others still existed, but Romana doubted it. The telepathic scanners were now a feature of every TARDIS, and with the work of two temporal rifts acting like an amplifier, would've reactivated every Time Lord no matter where they were. 5000 wasn't a big number compared to 7 billion, but at least it was a start to rebuilding an entire new species. Any number was better than 1, or even 5. The best find had been the carrier TARDIS containing 700 of the 5000 figure, and containing a thousand TARDISes, all in perfect working order. With more and more examples of their science restored to them, the New Time Lords were undertaking the task of restoring their race. It was far from easy; the Doctor especially wanted the Time Lords to work for themselves instead of relying on machines, but even he had to concede that some of the city was better off being built by robots.

Romana's brow furrowed, there'd been no sign of the Priest, or even the Master since the two had left Earth a year ago. Romana hadn't thought much of the Priest, but he was still a Time Lord, a member of - Romana hated to admit it but she had to be rational - an endangered species, and the last thing the Time Lords needed right now was a Time Lord dying. All Time Lords not on New Gallifrey were told to keep their eyes open for any trace of the Master and the Priest, but Romana was more worried about what would happen to the Priest. The Priest was one of those pompous Time Lords that didn't understand the way the universe worked, no matter how many exploratory missions he took. She feared for his life. It didn't take much imagination that the fool would find himself in front of a firing squad of one of the many races who held a grudge against the Time Lords. Even his body in death would be ruined; Time Lord bodies were miracles, with races and empires gunning for one cell. A Time Lord cell on it's own could literally rewind time, stop death. It was a sentient perversion of Chinese medicine, with a humanoid's body parts being used for less than benevolent purposes. Romana curled her lip, the Doctor had told her about the time he'd hidden from the Family of Blood. If there was any proof that a species would use a Time Lord without a thought, it was this one. Romana was certain something was going to happen to the Priest.

Romana met Flavia in the New academy building. It was much more than the old Academy but it was still unfinished, and it wasn't up to full capacity yet due to the lack of students, and Romana smiled when she met the younglings that the Doctor and Drax had picked up when their watches had broken the spell. Flavia had had enough influence to have one thousand two hundred children sent to random planets with their essences removed when Romana had gone missing, taken prisoner by Rassilon. Flavia wished she'd gotten more away, but she had to be realistic. She knew rationally that she couldn't have saved everyone from being killed when Gallifrey had been destroyed. Among the children were Allia's eldest.

Romana couldn't wait when the next generation was born, it would take time but it would be done.

" Have you heard anything about the Priest?" Romana asked her friend.

Flavia was slightly surprised by the question, but she answered, " No, why?"

Romana sighed, " I wish he was here. We need all the help we can get, and he's a Time Lord. His duty's here."

Flavia regarded Romana with some hesitation, " You don't know the Priest that well, do you?"

Romana shook her head, wondering where this was going. Flavia sighed, " The Priest is a traveller that doesn't learn anything new, unlike yourself and other travellers. He's a coward, I saw him crawl under a table during a Dalek assault that lasted 10 minutes. You heard him during the meeting on Earth, he'd advised the council to basically surrender to the Daleks. Negotiate he said, but I call it surrender. He never picked up a weapon and see for himself that surrendering to the Daleks was in itself a death warrant."

Flavia looked down at her small and delicate hands, " Mana, I know you want to think the best of the man, but I know him. You don't. He didn't answer the summons to return home and fight like the others did, we had to drag him into the war when we realised he wasn't there. The council had hoped he would be a great as asset as Time Lords like K'anpo and Pandora. Instead he advised us to do the opposite to what we'd been doing. He told us in that arrogant way of his that we shouldn't be listening to renegades, or scum, as he called us." Flavia gritted her teeth at the name before she carried on.

" That attitude, and his complacency won him many points from the council, only you and Rassilon stopped them from following such a stupid course of action."

Flavia walked away from Romana, leaving the other Time Lady to her thoughts.

* * *

The Rani was sitting in her lab, looking over at the artificial wombs where an embryo was bathed in with a temperature controlled fluid mix. Rani had spent her time doing three important tasks at once, 1, Creating new Time Lord embryos using the race banks from her TARDIS, 2, Create new Time Lords from raw Human DNA, and create a larger genetic diversity using the DNA from the Time Lords already alive. Luckily with 5000 people as donations, she'd had a lot of luck.

And lastly 3, creating the new Time Lord races. The Rani knew this one was a lot more difficult than it looked. She'd decided to create, at first, 7 races, but she honestly didn't know how long it would take for them to develop. The Rani knew that with a certain amount of guidance, and their own ingenuity, then they would do great things.

Rani looked at a gold bottle on a nearby shelf, contained inside a forcefield, nothing save a Dalek gun blast would break that field. This contained the pinnacle of her survival research, the genetic code of K'anpo himself. Rani had always been interested in vortex leaping but until she'd gotten her hands on K'anpo's DNA, she'd never had the chance to examine it for herself.

Rani would be lying to herself if she said she hadn't just examined it, no, her scientific curiosity knew no bounds. She'd worked on it, improved on it by a hundred per cent. She planned to give at least 3 of the races she created this miracle of Time Lord bioengineering, and program them to change over the course of their development.

The Rani smiled as she daydreamed the possibilities of the new races she was planning to build. She imaged the Human Time Lords, no different from their ape descended ancestors, aggressive and indomitable. Human aggressiveness, and TIme Lord technology, the thought made her shudder in delight; this was what she lived for.

The addition of Chula and Monan Host, Arcadian and Silurian DNA - the latter because time itself had denied the true potential of the Silurians. Rani thought about mixing a bit of human DNA into that mix, and decided to create a different race with those traits. The results were intriguing, like the implications.

Planets had been found, planets that were suitable for her purpose. But Rani decided to review the plans she had for the new races.

The Human - Time Lord race would be a perfect hybrid of Human and Time Lord. Time Lord knowledge and science mixed with Human aggressiveness, aided by a number of Human time machines and a Time Ring used by one of the children. Rani decided to give them a galaxy all to themselves, if what she thought would happen then it would be necessary. She imagined, rightly enough, that the Human aggressiveness would make them become an interstellar empire.

Rani wasn't concerned about them becoming hostile to their ancestors; she intended to weave a genetic program into their matrix that would stop them from wanting to kill any other being with Time Lord DNA. The Rani merely wanted them to fight with themselves and other races to release their innermost potential, and with Time Lord and alien science and technology at their disposal, then they would become a force to be reckoned with. All the Time Lord races would, like the people on Earth in the 20th and 21st centuries, debate about the existence of alien life. The alien technology inside the arks transporting them would send telepathic messages into the minds of the Time Lord hybrids, telling them to do this and that with alien hardware. It wouldn't be until later that they'd discover the truth of their existence.

The Chula - Time Lord race were the same as Humans, but Rani knew she would make them the same way as she did the Human Time Lords, in fact she decided to give them a galaxy all to themselves as well. Hopefully, the two races would meet, exchange information and join together. Just as hopefully, the two races would achieve a potential not seen in either the original races.

Rani wasn't taking anything out of either the Human or the Time lord and Chula, rather she was putting in and mixing up the differences.

The Monan Host had been closer to the Time Lords in terms of technology, even though they hadn't achieved dimensional transcendence. Their time travel technology had been so good even the Time Lords had stolen pieces of the technology and principles and integrated them into their own time travel designs. That was where devices like the Time ring came from, a stolen idea from the Monan Host. The Time Lords had never been original, even when they researched and pioneered time travel, they'd stolen principles from other races. The Time Ring's original theories had been a lot more...bulky, resembling a chunky thick bracelet rather than the sleek Time lord concept.

Rani smiled as she thought of the possibilities of genetically encoded Time Lord knowledge, combined with the existence of a Monan Host ship, would present in the future.

The Silurians, the Rani had met them during a trip to Earth during their reign, the height of their powers. It was fortunate humans hadn't evolved at that point, otherwise she'd have been killed, or worse. Luckily the Silurian culture had postulated the existence of other worlds, so when she'd arrived in the middle of one of their cities, they'd accepted she was an alien. If she'd materialised her TARDIS on a city in the 20th century, then it would be a different story, but the Silurians had welcomed her, asking her questions. Unfortunately, when Rani nipped forward to the 70s - the third Doctor wasn't the only Time Lord other than the Master to visit Earth during those times - it had been a different story. Rani had witnessed the Silurian plague unleashed in the 70s, and even the Rani had been reviled by the disgusting way the Humans had died. The SIlurians had acted out of fear of the Humans, held back by long held views of the ape pests that had darkened their world during their reign. The Rani wasn't about to let that happen with the Silurian - Time Lord race. The Doctor had been shocked by the idea of mixing this particular race, but then he'd seen the possibilities. The Silurians had once had a highly advanced bio engineered civilisation at the height of their power, that could have some use for the Time Lords.

All Rani had to do was bio program the DNA of both the Silurian - Time Lords and the Human - Time Lords, and stop them going for each others throats.

Whilst they hadn't had time travel technology, the Arcadians had been a remarkable race of engineers, explorers and starship builders with ingenuity matched only by the Humans and the Monan Host. Even the Rani had trouble imagining what a mix between Time Lord and Arcadian would do, but she was patient. She would see what developed. If she was right, the Arcadian - Time Lord race would become a force to be reckoned with. The whole thing was an experiment to the Rani, but it was mostly to prove a point.

Back home, long before the Time War, the Time Lords had believed that they were the height of evolution; technologically wise and so on. It was a sad fact, but it wasn't true. The Time Lords had stopped creating new sciences and technologies and new ideas in culture and philosophical matters, they'd lost their way. The Time Lords had once had a thirst for knowledge, that was why they'd created the TARDISes to begin with; to explore, to seek and answer questions, and to learn. TARDIS crews of over a thousand or so Time Lords would be sent across the whole of time and space, meeting new cultures where the researchers would encounter new ideas and technologies. That was how the Time Lords had made that blunder with the Minyans, resulting in their destruction because the more radical of their people had started to see the Time Lords not as gods, but as invaders. Minyos had been blown to bits after the people drove the Time Lords off. That was what curbed the Time Lords from interfering in other races affairs.

As time had passed, and knowledge was gained over the centuries, the Time Lords lost their desire to learn and simply retracted their learners, and went through a cultural decay. It was sad, really, but it was the truth of the matter.

It was the complacency and the desire to stay still that had been one of the reasons why there had been so many Time Lords leaving Gallifrey and travelling the universe in the first place, but Rani wanted her new creations to explore, there was still so much to be learnt. The Rani wondered if those same races she was creating would be able to unlock more secrets than the Time Lords had ever had, and she was sure they would. That was one of the primary sequences of their genetic programming; to explore. The Rani had seen the decline of the Time Lords, and the last thing she wanted was to see the same thing happen to races she created.

She'd programmed the hybrid races, and the other races, with the basic, but not complete, knowledge of the Time Lords and, in the hybrid races cases, their gene ancestors knowledge in whatever technology, but Rani had had Time Lords returned to them after the war to go out into the universe, go to inhabited worlds both primitive and advanced, and gather their knowledge. She'd genetically program snippets of that collective knowledge, along with the desire to expand on it, to take it into new directions and heights.

The races genetic matrices program was simple, 1, they would explore, their world, the cosmos, the mysteries of the universe. They would ask questions. Rani wasn't going to genetically program the collective knowledge of the Time Lords into their matrices, that would be cheating, but she would program the basics of temporal and vortex engineering and physics. It was Rani's hope that they would use their imagination and do things with the sciences her own people hadn't managed.

Simply, survive. The original Time Lords had become decadent and indolent, Rani wasn't going to let that happen a second time. If one of the races felt their best interests lay in expansion, empire, then Rani wasn't going to stop them. Rani would be lying if she felt that the basic idea of the Master's Time lord empire wasn't attractive, but the Master's version wouldn't be an empire, it would be a slave camp.

The Rani was programming the genetic memories of what happened to the Time Lords, taken from the Doctor, Romana and Susan, and herself. She wanted the races she was creating to learn what to do and what not to do.

The Rani broke off from her thoughts and focused on the list of races she was creating. One race would be a blend of Time Lord, Human, Arcadian, Chula and Monan Host, combining the best of the various races.

The Next race was a strain of Pure Time Lord, but Rani was including the knowledge of the various races and the Time Lords, and adding her own contributions for perfecting the Time lords.

The eighth Time Lord race would be where the leaper gene taken from K'anpo would be found. Rani knew that locking their planet away wouldn't stop them leaving, but she hoped that they would go further until their powers matched, and exceeded, K'anpo's own.

The Rani went to the eight gene containers and checked them over for any impurities, it wouldn't be long now before she launched them.

The next day, the Rani announced in a meeting that the rockets for carrying the new Time Lords were prepared. Flavia listened as the Rani took them through the evolution of the Time Lords new subspecies. Flavia and Rani with Romana had gone over the requisitions for the rockets and what the Time Lord races would need.

" The rockets will have a vortex engine to take them back in time over 2 million years into the past," Rani was saying. " Their genetic programming will include the basics of our knowledge, and in the hybrid races cases, their ancestry knowledge and the basic knowledge of thousands of other worlds in various fields. The rockets will contain holobooks on various sciences, literature, music and so on, but the rockets will also have a dimensional chamber containing a starship, a TARDIS collected from the carrier TARDIS, a Dalek time corridor generator, a Time agents vortex manipulator, an alpha meson cannon, a TARDIS manual, a Monan Host ship, a wormhole generating starship, a Time ring and a Jathaa sunglider." Rani finished, looking at her fellows.

" Pretty big toys," Flavia commented when she heard the list.

Rani nodded, " Yes, but if we want other Time Lord races to appear, then they must work on sciences in all their forms. The TARDIS and the Dalek time corridor generator and the Monan Host ships themselves would advance a race considerably. The rocket will open their cargoes to the new races as they make new discoveries."

" Hold one," Romana interjected, " I must've heard you wrong, it sounded like you were talking about handing out knowledge like a dog given scraps."

Rani took a deep breath, " I want them to advance slowly, learning the basics of civilisation and technology. I'm not making it easy for them. Their genetic conditioning is to make every new generation learn from the older generations and advance on their own. I believe in many philosophies, and one of them includes strength from conflict. I want them to fight amongst themselves, but being careful about it. I want a Time Lord race thats not afraid of getting their hands dirty. One of our races biggest issues, one which meant us losing Gallifrey in the first place, was that we were united by telepathy. What one Time Lord knew, the others knew. The Hybrid races'll have the same, but it's going to develop. I don't want them to create power plants early, I want them to learn like the races of the universe have. As time passes and they master electricity, nuclear fission and fusion, then the cargoes will give out their cargo and holdings, releasing their knowledge slowly as their knowledge increases and helping to shape the societies. The holobooks will provide them with the principles of hyperspace, space flight, astrophysics and the innermost points of temporal theory to add to their own knowledge that they gleaned from before. The technology will be shown to them, and they'll think nothing of it until their race develops that they reach at that point. They'll think it's a gift from the fates. When they've created their first ship, then the sunglider will be opened up and give their science a boost, meaning that they will spend years examining the ship and adding to their knowledge, but they'll also debate about the existence of other worlds, hopefully starting to see that the universe isn't a barren place. Scrapping their older spacecraft, the new Time Lords will then start travelling in space, unlocking the more advanced starship with the hyperdrive and giving them a new toy to play with." The Rani finished in a passionate breath.

" The Time corridor generator will be opened up after the new races start exploring the galaxy around them after a few centuries, providing them with the principles of temporal engineering. I believe that with these principles the new races will start creating their own time travel technology based on that employed by the Daleks. You have to admit," Rani pointed out, " That the Daleks own time technology was in many ways more superior than our own."

Romana and Flavia looked at each other, thinking Rani had a point, but they didn't want to admit it The Daleks had used time corridors created via static electricity, a crude and dangerous form of travel. As time passed, their machines became more and more similar to the Time Lord brand, and the new Time corridors used by the Daleks were more safer and less crude, especially when they were powered by the vortex themselves.

" One question," Flavia asked, " Where did you get your hands on Dalek time corridor generators?" Romana looked at Rani thoughtfully, wondering if she would actually answer. If there was one thing about Rani, it was that she was mysterious, and kept important things to herself.

Rani smirked, remembering full well the time she'd been stuck on a planet with a Dalek ship as a neighbour. " I was on a mission in the war once when I got stranded on a planet with a Dalek ship as a neighbour. The ship had 70 corridor generators, and I took them."

Rani didn't go into details, and the Time Ladies didn't ask. The Rani carried on, " After they've created their form of time travel technology, the wormhole ship and the Monan Host ship'll be released. As you know the Monan Host's technology was so good even we pinched pieces of it for our own use, which is where the Time ring comes in. The TARDIS and the Time ring will be the last additions to this menagerie of technology."

Flavia looked at the Time Lady scientist curiously, " It seems you're making it moderately challenging for them," the Time Lady looked at the asian scientist curiously, " but you're also making it harder for them. Why's that?"

Rani sighed, she'd thought she'd already explained, " Alright, I want our hybrid races to develop on their own, without finding too many answers. I've just explained, they'll make experiments and take their science in new directions. As they do that, then the holobooks'll be released. My plans complicated, I admit that."

Romana and Flavia conferred, and spent the next hour or so debating on the suggestions made by the Rani. They found nothing wrong with her plans, and decided to go for it. The Rani's plan was put into effect a year later when all the pieces had been gathered - the ships, the holobooks and so on. The new population of New Gallifrey watched as the eight huge rockets left the atmosphere, propelled by antigrav engines and went into warp drive to their new locations.

Romana waved at the new children of the Time Lords, " Come on kids, back to class," she smiled when they groaned collectively. " Now!" She barked with all the authority of a former president of the Time Lords.

* * *

_Altair 9. _

The Priest stepped out of his TARDIS, sneering with distaste at the Human inhabitants. The year was 2456, and it was the age of the Commonwealth, a Human controlled interstellar government, with planets and other celestial bodies connected by wormholes. As the Priest stepped away from his, as yet unnoticed, TARDIS, his sneer grew bigger. This was what he was reduced to, was it? A Time Lord travelling the universe to witness primitive lifeforms. Unlike Time Lords who'd left Gallifrey before the war, the Priest wasn't interested in the people. He'd only left his world on a whim, going through the proper channels like a proper Time Lord, and travelling on an exploration mission set down to him by the Time Lords.

The Priest hadn't wanted to go, but as a self respected Time Lord, he did as he was told. Then the Time War. Recalled by the Time Lords but ignoring the summons, believing them to be unimportant, the Priest had travelled, uninterested in the wonders that he'd witnessed. When he'd returned home he found his people in a violent war, and he'd recommended that the Time Lords surrendered. It hadn't been a popular recommendation, either. People, renegade filth like the Rani and that pathetic little mechanic, Drax, and that traitor Flavia, had shot down his proposals, saying the Daleks would wipe them out if they surrendered. But the Priest hadn't believed it. The Priest had never met a Dalek, never knew how vicious they were, how unrelenting...but then the whole situation became academic in the end. Gallifrey was lost, the explosion sending the Priest through time, and making his TARDIS malfunction slightly, making him jump ahead in time. For Time Lords like Drax and the Doctor, the Priest had never been there, but for the Priest, the whole grisly experience had taken only a matter of seconds.

The thought of the Doctor, the infamous Prydonian renegade being the one to destroy his home planet, his president and hero, Rassilon, made the Time Lord's blood boil. If that wasn't bad enough, sensible Time Lords like Lady Romana - the Priest had never liked her reforms, but he'd respected her as a president and leader - would forgive galled him no end. To make matters worse, Romana was in a relationship with the Doctor. The thought of the Doctor made the Time Lord clench his fists, but he shook off his rage, and walked on.

The Priest wondered around, ignoring the primitives around him. He was thinking of what he should do next. Even now, he could feel the presence of other Time Lords, he could hear their questioning of the lack of voices, their sorrow and anger that Gallifrey had been destroyed. If that wasn't the ultimate insult, then the forgiveness of the Doctor was another.

In the Priest's mind, the Doctor was the proof that renegade Time Lords should be hunted down and vaporised. Renegades polluted the Time Lord's purity, infecting it with ideas that were unfit for the most powerful race in creation. It never occurred to the Priest when he thought that particular thought that if the Time Lords had been all powerful then they'd have won the war hands down, but it didn't. The Priest had always believed the propaganda spreaded around by the High Council over the centuries, it was inconceivable for the Priest to accept the fact the Council had been wrong about other races becoming a definite threat.

The Doctor wasn't the only Time Lord the Priest was thinking about with a stroke of contempt, Lady Romana was there as well. Lady Romana needed a proper Time Lord, someone fitting of her own stature, but he knew he himself wasn't going to get that honor. It just didn't seem right, that a Time Lady, a cultured and dignified Time Lady, would allow herself to become polluted by a renegade as notorious as the Doctor, and allow herself to become contaminated. The Priest was aware like other Time Lords that Lady Romana had joined the Doctor on a search for the Key to Time, and it was obvious the renegade scum had done something untowards the Time Lady to turn her away from the path of the Time Lords. The thought of the _Doctor_, not someone like himself, being dispatched to locate the fabled Key to Time was another slap in the face for the Priest.

Deep down, the Priest was jealous of the Doctor and his accomplishments, but he'd always believed that he would best serve the universe by serving as a Time Lord.

The Priest was so wrapped up in his own thoughts of inadequacy that he didn't notice the feel of another, not until it was too late.

" Another Time Lord? So Doctor, you've done it again. You've once more overshadowed me." A voice, a cold and malevolent voice of a man spoke near the startled Priest, speaking more or less to himself.

The Priest swung round, catching sight of the speaker. As soon as the Priest's dull grey eyes met the malicious brown of the speaker, their minds touched, and the Priest shied away from the other Time Lord.

" You're...your're the Master!" The Priest gasped in fear. The Master smirked, the gleam in his eyes glaring louder and striking the Priest's own with their power.

" Correct, Priest," The Master sneered, scoffing slightly at the name the other Time Lord had chosen for himself. At least Time Lords like the Rani, the Doctor and the Corsair had chosen their names with some style. This one was asking for trouble. " I see my reputation proceeds me," the Master added, noting the fear in the other traveller's eyes.

The Priest caught the derision in the Master's eyes, and ignoring his common sense, said, " Yes, the reputation of a filthy renegade."

The Master had recently left Earth after his latest defeat at the hands of the Doctor, the sound of drums had grown louder in pitch, and this pathetic weakling caused the anger that had built up inside the Master to explode. Moving quickly, the Master grabbed the other Time Lord and pulled him into the side alley where his own TARDIS was. The Master slammed the other Time Lord into the wall, making the Priest cry out in pain. There were very few Humans around so the Master wasn't concerned with discovery.

The Master tightened his grip around the Priest's neck. " Tell me, what is the Doctor planning?"

The Priest was too stunned to reply, and the Master tightened his grip around his victims's throat, " What's the Doctor planning?" He spat out again.

The Priest gasped, " No, don't hurt me. Please..."

" I'll do more than hurt you if you don't tell me what I want to know," The Master snarled, throwing the Priest away when he realised that holding the Time Lord like that was only going to slow him down. He had come to this planet hoping to do some thinking in private, he hadn't expected to meet another Time lord.

The Priest grabbed his throat but before he could speak again, the Master removed from his pocket a squat, oddly shaped gun. He pointed the weapon at a recycling bin next to the Priest's prone body. He pulled the trigger, and the bin shrank. The Priest watched in horror, hearing the metal crunching as the dimensional stabiliser inside the gun reduced some of the components and crushed the others in it's grip. The Priest had heard enough about the Master to know what this was. It was a tissue compression eliminator, one of the Master's most terrifying weapons.

Frozen with terror, the Priest watched as the Master turned the weapon on him. The Master's face was bright with sadistic, homicidal joy. " Tell me what I want to know. I'll spare your life when I'm finished."

The Priest told him everything he knew so far, what the Doctor had done, the Time lord's he could hear, the Rani's plans for Time lord - hybrid races and so on. When the Priest finished he looked at the Master, breathing quietly, hoping that the maniacal Time Lord would overlook him. The Master was deep in thought, and wondered how he could interfere and take control. He knew that he'd need a good method to take control, but it was more than likely that he would be unable too.

The Master looked down at the Priest, staring at the other Time Lord like he'd only just remembered he was there. The Priest cowered away when he saw the look in the Master's eyes.

" You said you would let me live," The Priest protested, tried to reason when the Master lifted the TCE to bear on him.

The Master said nothing, he triggered the device and the Priest cried as his bones cracked and his organs imploded as his body was crushed. There was no regeneration from this sort of damage.

When the Priest's body was crushed, leaving behind a tiny twisted corpse, the Master looked down with contempt as he left the alleyway in the direction where the Priest's TARDIS had materialised.

" I lied."

On New Gallifrey, the Priest's death cry had been heard by everyone. The Doctor held his head, not speaking, not even daring to breath. He looked at Flavia and the Rani, whose faces also showed their reactions to the Priest's death.


	35. Chapter 35 Fate of the Corsair

**I don't own Doctor Who. Please review my story and give me some feedback on how I'm doing. **

_**A/N House doesn't exist in this story. **_

**Fate of the Corsair. **

" I know, I know!" The Corsair shouted as his TARDIS groaned as the control console sparked, hitting the controls to try and regain some degree of control over the bucking time machine. The Corsair wrestled with the controls in the same way and with the same strength as a killer whale threw a seal into the air, but the Time Lord knew it was useless.

The TARDIS was falling through time, badly damaged when Gallifrey had blown up. No, the Corsair thought. He wasn't going to dwell on that, and the fact he may be the last of the Time Lords, not something he'd dreamt of becoming when he'd been a small boy. In the Time Vortex, the Corsair's TARDIS bucked, swerved and rode on the power of its powerful warp engines, although it did no good. The TARDIS's warp engines tried to stabilise, but they weren't effective to stop the ship from being hurled through the vortex as the shockwave from the Eye of Harmony reverberated throughout the Time Vortex. The Corsair gritted his teeth as he tried to hold onto the console of his ship, ignoring the way his collection from across the universe was only just being held in their gravity cases. No good, he lost the fight with the turbulence, and was hurled across the room where his shoulder met the wall of the console room. The Corsair groaned, but he staggered up, his big brawny frame shrugging off the impact. The TARDIS jolted again, this time sending the aggravated and irritated Time Lord to the ground. The Corsair growled in suppressed frustration. He was on the verge of giving up. Realising he couldn't get to the console, the Corsair crawled slowly towards the couch that was, fortunately, fixed to the ground. When he'd hauled himself into it, the Corsair gritted his teeth as the TARDIS bucked him. It was rare for Time Lords to feel sick in the vortex, mastering the many mental and physical disciplines as they did. But the Corsair didn't meditate, he knew that he wouldn't be able to concentrate, not when his beloved ship was like this.

It felt like hours before the TARDIS landed with a thump that literally catapulted the still sitting Time Lord out of his chair. When he landed back in his seat, the Corsair took deep but shaky breaths. He wasn't leaving this chair yet, his body felt like it was rubber. But he needed to know where he was. Still shaking from the journey he got up and walked over to the console. He checked the readouts and he frowned.

" No wonder you went crazy," he patted the console when he read that the shockwave that had come from Gallifrey had reverberated throughout the universe. The TARDIS had simply been caught up in it. The Corsair checked himself over, patting himself down. " Ah, I'm still in one piece. Good, I thought I might've displaced my liver or my lungs."

The Corsair activated the scanner, and hoped that the thing was still working. To his relief it was, it showed him a forest outside the TARDIS. For a long moment the Corsair studied the image before nodding. He opened the doors and he walked over to the cupboard near the door. When he opened it he looked over the weapons inside. Unlike his friend the Doctor, the Corsair was more paranoid, and he usually carried a small blaster to protect himself. Selecting an alpha meson blaster, a compact laser pistol, a vibro blade and a sonic disruptor, the Corsair felt he was prepared for anything. Before he walked out of his ship he went to the console and put it into fault location mode to find out what circuits and other components had been damaged or worn out by the destruction of Gallifrey.

When his task was finished, the Corsair left the ship.

The first thing the Corsair felt was that time seemed slower here. As a Time Lord the Corsair had a remarkable feel for time, and time here felt..slower. He was disappointed that he couldn't hear any other member of his race, and he certainly wasn't sure if he himself could be heard. The Corsair pulled himself away, and looked around. The forest wasn't that dense luckily, but he could hear the sounds of animals. Praying he hadn't landed on a planet in it's prehistory; the last thing the Corsair needed on top of an almost certainly damaged TARDIS and the possibility of being the last Time Lord in the universe was to be dinner to a vicious dinosaur. The Corsair looked up, and gasped when he saw the sky for the first time.

It was a blue sky, typical for a planet, but the Corsair had never seen on his travels a sun with what was certainly a temporal rift running through it. _Could It be, _Corsair thought, _that I've landed on a planet near a sun with a crack through it?_

Corsair had heard of such temporal phenomenon, but he'd never heard of one. Right now he needed to focus on his TARDIS and getting away from here, but he needed to know the lay of the planet.

Deciding that his best chance of survival wasn't near the crashed TARDIS, the Corsair locked the time ship and proceeded into the forest.

There was life here, a large form of snake of various species, even one with more than three heads, reminding the Time Lord of the Greek Hydra. The Corsair had always had an un Time Lord loathing for snakes, keeping his eyes on his pocket scanner to record everything he was seeing and keeping an eye open for plants of nutritional value, and walking through the forest meant he had to use all his Time Lord self control to stop him losing his cool, but luckily his scanner kept his attention fixed. Once or twice he was tempted to shoot them, but that would waste energy and he might need his weapons. The Corsair walked gingerly along, ignoring the snakes and hoping there weren't many more to meet.

As he went along, he focused his Time Lord gift for a step taken is always remembered, making breadcrumbs worthless. The scanner detected a clearing ahead and Dalekanium signature. The Corsair felt as if a drop of ice had dropped down the back of his jacket. Dalekanium. Please, no...Removing his alpa meson blaster and the sonic disruptor, the Corsair edged along, using the Rassilon imprimature to program the scanner to hide his biometric field, but if there were Daleks then it might be too late. The Corsair wondered if this signature was new or whether it had been here a while, but it made no difference. The Time Lord prepared to defend himself, he knew that regeneration was useless against the Daleks; he'd seen countless Time Lords shot down by the vermin and they never got up again. Moving forward slowly, the Corsair cocked his weapons, deftly pocketing his scanner, and moved on. He peered out of the clearing when he saw the wreck of a Dalek time saucer. It was certainly from the Time war, but it looked like it had been here a while. Keeping his guns ready, Corsair checked over what he could see of the hull. Resilient things, Dalek ships. It barely looked damaged, but the Corsair could see the gash in the hull and what looked like burns on the skin of the ship. The hull breach was quite wide, there was enough room for the Time Lord to walk through easily. The moment the Corsair got inside the saucer he could see at once that animals had gotten inside, he could see dried dung, bits of snakeskin and patches of fur and bones from animal feeds. If the Corsair needed any proof that the Daleks from this ship were dead this was it, Daleks didn't let any animal eat and crap in their ships, but the Time Lord wasn't one for taking chances.

Putting his sonic disruptor away, the Corsair brought out his pocket scanner and scanned the ship. There were lifesigns, but the scanner was programmed to detect Dalek mutant life signs, and there weren't any.

As he walked through the ship, checking everything, the Corsair noted that the ship was in good condition with one or two exceptions. When he got to the bridge he started checking the computer core, which with his criminal know how didn't take long. The problem was getting one working. The Corsair used his pocket scanner for the power source, and controlled the flow; if there were any Daleks around then he would be in trouble, but by limiting the amount of power from the scanner, the Corsair should be able to stop them being revived. But the Corsair knew better than to underestimate the Daleks, they were paranoid and unbelievably cautious.

Keeping an eye on the computer's power level, Corsair took the time to read the text translated on his scanner. It was as he thought, the saucer had been damaged during the War when it got into a fight against 3 war TARDISes. It made an inadvisable escape through time; Corsair winced as he read how carelessly the Daleks had made the jump. The forces of the jump and the nearby temporal rift killed the rest of the crew, the survivors left over from the attack. Dalek ships had a molecular core which rebuilt and repaired levels of damage which would have destroyed lesser ships. All this was, dated from the Daleks computer, 2 years ago. The Corsair thought about what he'd just read, and he thought. Dalek technology was close in many ways from Time Lord technology, and if his TARDIS was as damaged as he felt, then he might've found the spare parts he needed. He'd once read of a Time lord in the CIA files who'd been stranded with a Dalek shuttle, and the Time Lord discovered the components from the shuttle were 78% compatible. The Corsair disconnected the scanner and turned off the grid, and went to check the vortex engine. The Dalek vortex engine room was the heart of the ship, and Corsair shook his head at the device. It wasn't that big, but it easily took up a quarter of the room. It was a cylinder that lay in a horizontal position and held in place with massive structural braces. Without any unnecessary movements, Corsair checked it over with his scanner. It was in excellent condition.

By the time the Time Lord had returned to his TARDIS, it was sunset and the Corsair was delighted he'd made it. He was still concerned about the local wildlife, and he couldn't help but think of how bad a way to go being a meal to a carnivorous animal. The Corsair made a mental note to check out the wildlife, if he was going to live here for a while and he needed pieces of Dalek technology and he carried it around with him at night then he wanted to be Corsair breathed a long sigh in relief at being back inside his TARDIS, and moved to the console, dreading what he was going to see when he read how much repair work was needed. When he checked it, he sighed irritably but happily. It wasn't as bad as he'd thought, but he'd still like to give his TARDIS an overhaul; he hadn't liked the way the TARDIS had landed on the planet, and didn't know or want to know what would happen if the TARDIS crashed from now on and on other worlds. It shouldn't be too difficult to take the saucer apart to get what he wanted.


	36. Chapter 36 Two More and an Anniversary

**My thanks to my friend Mountain King for letting me borrow a character. His story An Uninvited Guest's brilliant and worth the read. PS. I had to repost this because of an error. Sorry. Many thanks to Marcus S. Lazarus for pointing this out. **

Two More and an Anniversary.

The Corsair sat in his TARDIS as his timeship travelled sluggishly through the vortex. It had taken the Time Lord longer than he'd thought in repairing his ship, but he'd managed it. The Corsair had no idea how long it had taken, which seemed strange because of his temporal senses. Clearly the rift dampened his ability to perceive time. When the TARDIS left the temporal pocket, the Corsair discovered that the Eye of Harmony had definitely gone, but he could still hear voices, maybe some of his friends were still alive. He hoped so.

As the TARDIS travelled through the vortex wormhole, powered by the battered warp engines, the Corsair noticed that the main space time element was losing power. The TARDIS had lost a lot of power leaving the planet and the temporal pocket, no matter how good the Dalek technology was, and the Corsair knew the TARDIS couldn't last forever. It took a lot of power to travel in time, and the TARDIS was having enough trouble staying inside the vortex as it was, and the vortex wasn't exactly wonderful at the moment; the TARDIS was being buffeted from side to side, reminding the Corsair vividly of the crash on the planet. The Corsair thought for a moment, and then set the controls for Earth, Cardiff. If he could siphon enough energy from the rift then he could travel to where he could hear the voices, he'd already thought of using the remaining energy his TARDIS had to make the trip, but there wasn't enough. The Corsair, like other Time Lords before the Time War, hadn't really concerned themselves with fuel; the power source on Gallifrey had been more than enough for their needs, but with the Eye gone then they needed the best equivalent. Rift energy wasn't the best, but it was certainly closer to the sort of energy the Eye had generated before the fall of the Time Lords. As the TARDIS made the shaky journey, using the last reserves, the Corsair closed his eyes and focused on the voices he could hear. There weren't many of them, and the Corsair sighed.

" Oh Doctor, what did you do?" He whispered sadly.

The Corsair was certain that his old friend had had something to do with the destruction of Gallifrey because he was that kind of person, but the Corsair didn't, couldn't, believe that the Doctor would do something like that unless he needed to. Walking around the console for lack of anything better to do even though his ship needed the rest, the Corsair thought about the final days of the Time war, how his people had become monsters and fulfilled their dangerous potential. " There should've been other ways. Damn you Doctor, damn you Rassilon for forcing him to make that choice!" The Corsair shouted as his mind focused on the remaining Time Lords. There weren't many, but some. That was better than nothing, he thought to himself bitterly. Oh, he didn't hate the Doctor, he just hated the choice he'd made. Just like he hated the people who'd forced him into the position in the first place.

As the Corsair's TARDIS carried on to Earth, carrying the Corsair, there was a massive bump which threw the Corsair across the room where he made the acquaintance with the wall. " Ow!" The Corsair hissed. He cursed when he saw his TARDIS console, already under severe stress, convulse with agony.

* * *

The object which collided with the Corsair's TARDIS was another TARDIS that just appeared from no-where. Inside the other TARDIS, a tall grey haired Time lord wearing a more serviceable version of Time lord robes, worked furiously at the controls. This was the Scholar, a Time Lord with a mindset similar and yet different from that of the Priest. The Scholar gritted his teeth and cursed, then he nodded when he realised what had happened.

" Another TARDIS, well I'm glad I'm not the last." That statement showed that the Scholar was aware of the lack of Time Lord voices.

* * *

In the Corsair's TARDIS, the Corsair worked furiously at the controls, and was delighted when the TARDIS righted itself, and he knew that the other Time Lord had done it; his own TARDIS could've done it if she had the power, but it was clear the other TARDIS had energy to spare. He checked the controls and displays as they scanned the other TARDIS. It was a Mark 8 TARDIS, one of the most advanced models. The Corsair had a brainwave and checked the dimensional frequency, and adjusted his own ship's inner dimension to match that of the other TARDIS. That done, the Corsair reached for the controls...

The Scholar's head shot up the moment he heard the sound of a relative dimensional stabiliser, and his eyes widened when he saw the TARDIS that materalised in his own console room. Then his eyes narrowed at the other's lack of etiquette; it was astoundingly rude when people barged in without invitations.

The door opened, and a tall and strapping Time lord stepped out with handsome and roguish features. Their minds touched and the Corsair shook his head, " Hello, Scholar."

" Corsair," The Scholar replied without warmth, and the Corsair sighed.

The Scholar was, well, exactly as the name described him to be, and looking around the Time lords TARDIS, the Corsair could see at once that the name was well deserved. The Scholar's TARDIS was that of an old library with shelves stacked with books, data and holo crystals, scrolls of parchment, paper and plastic. There were pieces of object d'art around the room here and there, but aside from them and the ornamental clocks and pocket watches mounted on the walls of the gaslit TARDIS the room was that of a library.

" _It suits him," _Corsair thought to himself; the console room lacked the warmth of a library and instead channeled the coldness of the Scholar. The Corsair knew that the other Time lord had no love for renegades like himself and the Doctor, but the Corsair was delighted he was still alive. Even if the Scholar made it clear how low his opinion of Time lords like the Corsair was, the Corsair certainly wasn't going to walk away from the other. But he was worried.

The Scholar's disdain for renegade Time lords was well known; the number of messes the High council had sent him to clean up was longer than the lifespans the Corsair had lived so far, but usually the Scholar ignored the other Time lords. Sometimes he himself intervened when he had good cause and reason. The incident with the Human temporal sensor fiasco sprang to mind, but then again any other Time Lord would've done the same and stopped the Human's mistake, but the Corsair wanted answers.

" Where have you been?" He asked, folding his arms. " The High council sent a summons throughout the universe."

The Scholar cocked his head, his look of disdain displaced by anxiety for his people and his world. " I don't know what you're talking about. I've been travelling in the multiverse and collecting books for my collections. Then the walls of reality closed. I could ask you what happened?" The Scholar added his own question.

Now the Corsair was understanding what'd happened; the Scholar had been travelling in a different reality when the order for the walls of reality to be shut down came through. But how did he get back? A dimensional rift, a rupture...what?

" It's a long story," The Corsair replied finally. " Tell me how you got back when the walls were closed."

The Scholar wasn't giving in yet, his curiosity and the Corsair's statements were making him more apprehensive than he already was. The Scholar already knew something bad had happened back home; the loss of the Eye of Harmony, the destabilisation of the time vortex, the lack of voices, the way the Corsair was speaking...it was obvious something bad had happened, but the Scholar wanted answers.

" I had a dimension divider," The Scholar stepped to the side, gesturing to the console with an outstretched arm, and the Corsair saw mounted on the top of the master control panel a spherical device. The Corsair nodded in comprehension; if the walls closed then a dimension divider would certainly come in handy for the opening of a CVE.

" Where did you get one?" Corsair asked curiously. " Those things are usually locked inside a vault that could only be locked by a member of the High Council."

The Scholar smirked smugly, " My cousin sits on the Council. He had the necessary contacts and he was able to procure one for me." The smirk vanished from the Scholar's face. " You still haven't told me what's happened to Gallifrey,"

The Corsair closed his eyes, paused and then reopened them. The Scholar was astounded by the grief and the pain on the face of his fellow Time Lord. Like most, the Scholar was aware, more than aware, of the laid back reputation of the Corsair, to see him like this was an unprecedented event.

" Let's get our ships to Earth and to the Cardiff rift," The Corsair suggested, hoping the other Time Lord had enough sense not to press the issue. The Corsair carried on, pointing out the obvious before the Scholar could argue, " In case you've forgotten, our TARDISes are drained, yours by crossing the dimensional barriers without a proper portal, mine because I escaped from a temporal pocket. The last thing we need is our TARDISes to be stranded here."

The Scholar was about to argue when he caught the look in the Corsair's eyes. He accepted, realising the Corsair was right even though he didn't want to admit it.

* * *

It was a long way to Earth. Both TARDISes had lost a lot of energy during the collision, and it was nightfall when they arrived on the site of the Cardiff rift. Connecting the two TARDISes to the rift took a bit of time, but luckily the two had had the foresight to prepare their ships. When they continually refueled then it would be easier and speedier. But for now the job would take two or three days. The Scholar was alright with that, he had questions and the Corsair had the answers.

When their ships were prepared for refueling, the Scholar led the Corsair into a lounge inside his TARDIS. Once they'd both gotten comfortable, the Scholar began his interrogation.

" What happened?" He asked coldly.

The Corsair winced, the words hitting him like a whip. " There was a war, a Time war. The Last Great Time War." He added sarcastically. " A war between the Daleks and the Time Lords, the whole of creation at stake." The Corsair felt his mouth go dry, so he reached for a glass of cool water.

As the Corsair drank the water, the Scholar was frozen in his seat. Daleks? That meant...one Time Lord was to blame for that. The Scholar spat out,

" The war was because of the Doctor?"

The Corsair paused as he gulped on his drink, " Not quite, but it wasn't his fault." He hastened to add, "The High council made him go on a mission to Skaro long before the war started."

" He should've completed the mission to destroy the Daleks," Scholar snapped coldly. To the Scholar, and a majority of other Time Lords, the task should've been simple, and yet the Doctor had given into his weaknesses for life.

The Scholar was aware of the mission the council had given the Doctor, but he wasn't as forgiving as others. In the Scholar's mind, the mission had been a simple one and yet the Doctor had failed it. The Scholar was now getting an idea of what had happened; after the mission the Daleks had changed, transforming from cunning and subtle, to mechanical and logical. They'd know thanks to their temporal technology what the Time Lords had done. The puzzle was falling into place for the Scholar. The Corsair could see the look on the other Time Lord's face, knowing that there was no way he could persuade the man that the stakes had been higher.

" The Doctor fought harder and longer than anyone else," The Corsair pointed out; he knew it would make no real difference. The Scholar had already made it clear he'd never forgive the Doctor, but the Corsair was more aware of the circumstances of Gallifrey's fall.

The Scholar didn't reply, his icy countenance disbelieving. The Corsair leant forward, his hands and fingers outstretched. The Scholar flinched back, "What're you doing?"

The Corsair's deep voice was smooth and calm, " Our minds, one and together,"

The Scholar slowly moved forward, and the Corsair's fingers probed into the other Time lord's face, probing for the telepathic contact he needed. He found what he was looking for, and the Scholar lowered his mental barriers. The Corsair fed him the telepathic link, keeping away from the inner depths of the Scholar's mind. Time Lord minds were complex, some believed that a Time Lord mind was a link into the universe. Many races who practiced telepathy formed mental defences based on their unique personalities, and the Corsair knew from experience that breaking into another's mind could result in unpleasantness. He strengthened his own defences, feeling the Scholar do the same thing.

_The Time war, _Corsair began, showing the Scholar a image that he himself would never forget as long as he lived; an image of Dalek battlesaucers firing missiles and beams on Gallifrey, raking the surface until the planet was alight with fire. _The first strike was a small attack on Gallifrey. The Daleks bombarded Gallifrey, their weapons had become so powerful that they cracked the citadels' dome. _

The Scholar wanted to say something, mind to mind, but he didn't. He wanted to see the war from the Corsair's mind. Besides he didn't have the hearts to interrupt the Corsair's story. The image of the Citadel of the Time Lords, the mega city that had shrouded and protected the Time Lords for 10 million years in pocket dimensions, with the cracks in the dome was enough to make the Scholar lose his emotional control, something that hadn't happened to the Time Lord for centuries.

_The Time War began in earnest. The Daleks destroyed the Faction Paradox, the Monan Host were attacked..._The image changed, showing the planet of the Monan Host. The Monan host had cleverly used an occlusion field to mask their history, but the Daleks tore the rift open, firing temporal weapons that made the rift even more unstable. The Scholar didn't need the Corsair to explain what had happened; he could see it, and the Corsair was glad he didn't need to explain the destruction of the Monan Host's homeworld, but he did say what the consequences were. _Many of the Monan Host were wiped from history, but some of them managed to escape, protected by their temporal shields. They survived. Some of them fought in the war alongside us, but there was mistrust. _

_Why was their mistrust? _Scholar asked.

A mental sigh came from the Corsair's consciousness, _They believed the Time Lords had brought the war on themselves, and dragged other races into it. They were right. We sat complacently as the Daleks prepared for war, gathered their forces, upgrading their technologies a million times over, and the Time Lords weren't able to do anything about it. We were taken by surprise, Scholar, whether you like to admit it or not. _

The Scholar didn't like that, he wanted to argue with the other Time Lord, but the Corsair, anticipating the coming argument, carried on with his mental monologue. The image changed, and the Scholar couldn't help but gasp when he saw the massive copper-bronze Dalek ship that was shaped like a cigar. The end of the ship was glowing blue, and it shot a massive beam of energy at a planet it was orbiting. The Scholar gasped when he saw that the planet had highly developed cities on the continents; the beam of energy was aimed at the pole, giving the weapon a more powerful effect. The resultant energy wave swept through the planet, erasing the cities and settlements from existence.

_They were a race of explorers, _The Corsair's voice echoed through the Scholar's shocked and pained mind at this abuse of temporal technology even though the Time Lords had done something similar in the past. _They were mastering space-time travel, and they would either help us or the Daleks, or they would simply begin their own front. The Daleks didn't want to take the chance, so they wiped them out. It gets worse..._

The Scholar was about to ask what he meant, not sure if he even wanted to know, but when the next image came through, the Scholar's mind froze in terror. He was witnessing a cadaverous face, pale skin, dark hair, feral and red eyes that looked like they held a fire behind them. Two long fangs dripping blood from the cold and lifeless skin was the only thing that moved on this hideous image.

The Scholar knew what was happening, long before his fellow Time Lord told him. _The Daleks reached through our history, bringing up the worst and most nasty of our enemies from the past. They scooped Great Vampires, I don't know how many, but their effect and presence was quickly felt. _

The image changed from the vampire, but when the image changed, showing the view of what looked like a planet that looked like it was being drained. The Scholar's hearts seized when they saw it. The planet seemed to become a lifeless husk, glowing with a whitish light that changed to grey, becoming darker and darker as the vampire, or vampires as the case may be, drained the planet of all it's energy. The Scholar wanted to pull his mind away, but the Corsair's hold on his mind was too strong, and the Scholar was forced to watch. He could feel the Corsair's grief and pain through their connection, and knew that he'd seen this before, but couldn't stand watching it now. The Scholar couldn't blame him; seeing something he himself had only witnessed in history files in the present past was horrifying, and incredibly real. The Great Vampires had been extinct for centuries, and seeing their return harked enough horrors to paralyse the Scholar.

Finally the Corsair took mercy, and changed the image over. This time it was showing the image of a dark room with a glowing portal. Suddenly there was a flash of bright light. The Scholar and the Corsair put up mental barriers to get rid of the light, and the image showed a man with long black hair, mad blue eyes and a thick and mangy beard.

The image became more animated when two Time Lord guards came in and wrestled with this stranger, but the man was as strong as he was insane. The man gave out a maniacal laugh. The mental image of the Corsair charged and tackled the other man to the ground. A memory, the Scholar realised.

_Not my best memory, _The Corsair commented darkly, _Guess who the psycho was._

_Who?_

_The Master, _The Corsair mentally growled furiously, _they brought him back. Gave him fresh new regenerations, but he ran away. He fled to heaven knows where. But the war grew much worse. _The image changed, shaking the Scholar out of his stunned rage that the Time Lords would be such an obvious psychopath as the Master back to life; he was aware of the Master's last meeting with the Doctor, but he'd thought it would mean the final end of the evil Time Lord, and showed a man being wheeled out of a chamber. The Scholar gave a mental gasp as he saw the face of the man.

_Rassilon...? It can't be. How? _The Scholar asked the other Time Lord. The Scholar felt the mental connection darken with the anger the Corsair was feeling, and was confused. Rassilon was the greatest Time Lord in history. Why, the Time Lords should still be here, not reduced in number as they were, as he could feel and sense their telepathic voices. What had gone wrong? The Corsair showed him a memory. It showed a small fleet of Dalek ships attacking Gallifrey, diving, ducking, bombing the citadel, which was now in flames. Greasy smoke rose above, high in the sky as the flames swept the city. All around the base of the dome, the remains of Dalek saucers littered the ground unceremoniously.

Rassilon stood on top of what looked like a weapons platform, his long red Lord president's robes billowing in the wind and smoke of the burning city behind him; it was hard to tell since the Corsair's memory made the viewing more complicated. It was scarcely relevant, the Scholar decided. He'd just spotted Rassilon, the memory zeroed in on him. The legendary Time Lord was stood on top of the platform, his face one the Scholar would never forget. It was a furious raging look of a madman, a look that frightened and worried the Scholar. Throughout history, Time Lords had revered Rassilon. They considered him the father of their race, their civilisation, their culture. They thought, the Scholar amongst them, that the First Time Lord would be calm in the face of adversity. But Rassilon came from another era, the Scholar conceded, it was logical to deduce that he had a different demeanor.

Rassilon raised what looked like a knight's gauntlet, it was hard to tell, it glowed blue and a bolt of blue energy left the glove. It expanded as it met the Dalek ships. The ships were engulfed, and then they exploded.

_Rassilon held the Daleks at bay, but the attack occurred because he announced publicly that the Daleks would never strike Gallifrey. The Dalek emperor decided to prove him wrong. Hundreds of Time Lords and Gallifreyans paid the price for Rassilon's arrogance. Rassilon covered it up, claiming that the Daleks were on their way long before he made the announcement. _

The Scholar couldn't believe what he was hearing, but then as if in answer to his disbelief the image changed, this time showing Rassilon's public address, and the Scholar felt the Corsair's relief when he felt the other Time Lords disappointment in his hero's lack of humility.

The Corsair skimmed through some of the memories, these ones showing the Scholar of how unstable the First Time Lord truly had been during the war.

As for the Scholar, he felt the Corsair's frustration and fury when he fed the memories of how Rassilon did less leading, and more scheming and plotting with nothing to really show for it. The Scholar witnessed the Corsair's memories, and felt the frustration added onto those same memories, when Rassilon and the council members, one of whom made the Scholar sick when he saw how he kissed Rassilon's backside. It was his own relative, the same one the Scholar had told the Corsair about, the same one who'd gotten him the dimension divider. Whilst the Scholar was disdainful of the renegade Time Lords, he agreed with them that travel through the universe granted them experience. Seeing the Corsair's memories of how Rassilon had made him a liaison to the other renegades who were in charge of the Time Lord forces in the Time War, and seeing Rassilon ignore the Corsair, listening instead to the council, who were advising him to do inane and stupid things, ignoring the advice from the Corsair. Then the Corsair showed the Scholar the meeting with the other renegades; the Scholar instantly recognised the Rani, Salyavin, Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter, and Drax. Since the Scholar tried hard to avoid the renegades on his travels, he didn't know all of them by sight. When Lady Romana arrived, the Scholar was surprised to feel strong emotion from the Corsair, but he couldn't find out why. That was sealed off from his awareness. When the Corsair in the memory pulled out her chair, and Romana blushed, the Scholar understood.

_You love her, don't you? _He asked the Corsair, doing his best to keep his disapproval at bay. Time lords weren't meant to show weak sentimental emotions like that, but the Scholar knew others didn't agree. The Corsair snapped through the connection, _She loves the Doctor, I was merely being friendly. Besides, why shouldn't I admire her? Lady Romana was a popular Time Lady. _

The Corsair moved on, showing the meeting. He was pleased when he felt the Scholar's surprise at the death or disappearance of some of the renegades; the Corsair hoped the arrogant Time Lord would see that even when they had different philosophies, the renegades had been Time Lords as well. The Scholar wasn't surprised when he saw the Corsair's denial, but he was taken aback when the memories changed.

_The final battle of the war, _Corsair confirmed grimly.

Seeing your home planet destroyed for real is bad enough, but for the Scholar, it was like a bad movie. He watched as the Corsair ran through the corridors of the Citadel, feeling the Corsair's pity and contempt for the Time Lords and Ladies rushing around, hampered by their ornamental robes as the Dalek missiles exploded all over the city. The sight of his people acting like primitives annoyed the Scholar. The Corsair was quick to point out, _Just because other races seem primitive to you doesn't automatically mean that they can't fight properly. Look at them, our people, _The Corsair rapped out angrily, _look what they've become. Stagnant. Complacent. Indolent. We were caught unawares by the Daleks, and when Rassilon returned, the whole thing was blown to hell out of all proportions. Rassilon gave the others empty promises. He had no intention of helping the other races. The races the Time Lords are sworn to protect. He cared only for his own skin. _

_What do you mean? _ Scholar asked, shaken from Corsair's verbal battering. The Corsair took great delight in showing the Scholar the full extent of the Ultimate Sanction Rassilon dreamt up. The Corsair gave a mental smile when he felt the other Time Lords horror and shock when he saw how unstable and destructive the plan truly was and seeing from the Corsair's perspective in the face of death made the Scholar even more horrified of how low the Time Lords had sunken.

The memories came and went, but the Scholar's mind was still on Rassilon's plan.

The Time vortex was woven into the fabric of reality, like all the dimensions, connecting time and space together like a jigsaw puzzle. It was the vortex and the science behind it that made the Time Lords what they were. Rassilon's plan would more than likely wipe the Time Lords out rather than allow Rassilon's mad scheme from ever happening.

The Scholar wasn't sure how much more he could take; he was seeing the effects of the plan before they even came to light. He saw and felt the memory Corsair's fear, horror, curiosity about what was happening, and what was happening to his fellows. The Scholar's hearts turned to ice when he watched the Corsair and a Time Lady he was certain was a renegade he'd never seen before spying on a few council members, one of them his own cousin. The Scholar despaired when he saw his cousin conspire without any sign of conscience and discretion; surely the fool had been aware of the dangers of spouting out a plan of his magnitude? Clearly not.

Finally the Corsair broke the connection, and both Time Lords let their mental disciplines, honed by centuries of experience, calm and relax their minds and bodies. A Time Lord's body was a miracle, both psychically and physically. Using their mental and physical disciplines, the Time Lord version of yoga, which helped the body cope in conditions that would make a Human tired, the Corsair and the Scholar quickly recovered.

Now the Scholar had seen the war from the eyes and mind from the Corsair, he now had questions. One of them concerned the Ultimate Sanction.

" Did - did no one try to tell Rassilon that his plan would've been a failure?" He asked shaken. It was a blow to see how low his people had sunken, resorting to murder and intrigue, even though he shouldn't have been surprised by the last one. Intrigue and backstabbing had been a major part of Time Lord political culture for centuries, and it was one of the major reasons why Time Lords, the Doctor amongst them, left the planet behind to travel to seek something better.

The Corsair shrugged, " I don't know. I imagine so," He added seriously, looking distant. " I heard about a few people in different levels of the council vanishing without a trace. There was no investigation. Only someone high in the Council could've ordered that."

" You think it was Rassilon." Scholar said; it was a statement of fact, not a question.

" Or someone who believed fanatically in Rassilon's plan," The Corsair replied, " I only hope, for the sake of everything, and the Time Lords you and I can sense, have no intention of following the plan through. But some of the Time Lords were ignorant of the plan. The only people who knew the finer details, no matter how scant, were us renegades and the morons on the Council." The Scholar quirked an eyebrow, either the Corsair had forgotten his own dead cousin had been one of those morons, or he simply didn't care. In truth, the Scholar didn't care anymore. His cousin had chosen to act without seeing how his hero was becoming an increasing megalomaniac.

" What do we do now?" The Scholar asked, the only question had had left.

The Corsair took a deep breath, " We're going to be stuck on Earth for a few days whilst our TARDISes are refueling. They need time to heal, well mine does. In the meantime, I intend to walk around town, and get drunk. I haven't had anything decently alcoholic in months, years," The Corsair added ignoring the Scholar open his mouth before closing it again. Knowing the Scholar, he was going to go on about how it wasn't Time Lordish to get drunk. But with the Time Lords almost gone, the Corsair couldn't care less.

As for the Scholar, well, he was shocked into silence. He tried to reply to the Corsair's statement, but he couldn't. The Corsair's desire for company with Humans, and not with him, a Time Lord was one that the Scholar couldn't understand.

* * *

Taking a long gulp from his bottle, the Corsair looked around the Human club he was in, gazing appreciatively at the gyrating Human girls as they danced, some of them most likely drunk or were simply showing off their assets to the men gazing at them with lust. Like the Doctor and many others, the Corsair had visited Earth in the past, but he wasn't a slave to it like his friend. He had limits, and one of them was interfering in history. Corsair preferred stealing to meddling, playing buccaneer, and looking at the girls he wondered if the alcohol he was drinking was making him hormonal. The Corsair had never truly cared about that stupid law that Time Lords should never touch another species sexually, in fact he'd done it on more than one occasion. He was tempted to do it now, and he could see a few girls looking at him unashamedly. He was glad the Scholar wasn't here. The more stiff and rule abiding goody, goody was in his TARDIS, refusing to come out on the Corsair's binge drinking spree. The Scholar was one of the many things he didn't miss about Gallifrey. Oh, he missed his planet, his family and friends. He hated the Doctor for that part, but he understood it. But he knew the Scholar wouldn't forgive the Doctor for making that choice. No other Time Lord would, not unless they fought in the war.

As he took another gulp from his glass, the Corsair got ready to order another when his temporal senses went off. Something was wrong, very wrong. He looked round to see the source. He found it, not so far from him. A tall man wearing a long overcoat from World War 2, ruggedly handsome, but sending out waves of wrongness that stunned the Corsair. The Time Lord could see that this man was out of sync with time, that meant he was a time traveller. But there was more to it than that. _He_ was wrong, time ran differently for him, and he looked older than his appearance first suggested. Nausea gripped the Corsair's insides when he took in the time flow of the man.

A fixed point.

The Corsair put down his glass, and prepared to leave. Thoughts of doing things that were not Time Lord behaviour with those attractive girls fled the Corsair's mind, he was obeying his first impulse and leave before this man spoke to him. Looking closely at the man, the Corsair could see the vortex manipulator. He sighed at the sight of the stupid device that people from this fool planet called a time machine. It wasn't worthy of the title.

Things were just getting better and better.

A Time Agent, or someone playing time traveller. No, this guys whole bearing screamed military, indicating specialist training. The temporal senses were showing this man to have travelled in time from the future, so time agent looked more likely. But one look at his wrist mounted time machine, and the Corsair was surprised by the lack of use. A deserter? Or maybe the device wasn't working, that was the trouble with manipulators. They had a nasty habit of malfunctioning and sending their users to the wrong time, and burning out, stranding the poor bastard in the wrong timezone. The Corsair felt it was better if he did leave, and quickly without being noticed. Even a deserting Time agent was a problem, one the Corsair could do without considering his own problems. The Corsair picked up his coat, and prepared to leave. He'd just stepped away, when the Time agent spoke.

" I don't bite," he said, looking forwards, startling the Time Lord. He looked at the Corsair, an inviting smile on his face. Corsair felt disgust at the innuendo; typical, his first night on Earth, stuck with a broken down TARDIS, an arrogant rule abiding goody goody Time Lord, and a flirtatious Time agent from the 51st century when he could be having a good night with a human girl or two.

" What makes you think I'm interested, time agent?" Corsair spat, deciding to let the other traveller know that he knew his identity, the Corsair's hand was in his pocket near his sonic screwdriver, his other hand around his perception phaser which would render the pair invisible by telepathic command. It was a clever device he'd created himself during the Time War, it acted like a perception filter, and merely phased whoever used it to avoid detection.

The hand wrapped around the sonic screwdriver tightened. Technically, sonic screwdrivers couldn't wound or hurt anyone, but they were good at repelling knives or guns and throwing people back with a sonic wave, and the Corsair knew that this man was armed, and he knew better than to get cocky around Time agents. Time agents never went anywhere without weapons. It was a given fact. The Corsair added another telepathic command to his phaser, increasing the telepathic distortion around himself and his man, knowing he could feel it. If they got into a fight, he didn't want anyone to notice. If he had the chance then he would strip the man of his identity and be back in his seat without anyone noticing. That was the best way of dealing with these psychopaths.

The Time agency wasn't a pleasant organisation, and the Corsair had met with them enough times on his travels to know they weren't trustworthy, they'd shot at him, interfered with his business enough times for that message to enter his brain. They were exactly why the Time Lords had frowned and forbade others from having time travel technology, they showed no regard for temporal mechanics, and they were directly, or indirectly, responsible for a number of paradoxes that required the intervention of the Time Lords. Time Lords who travelled, like the Corsair and the Doctor, had had their own meetings with the Agency, and each time left them with a bad taste in their mouths, and a growing contempt for the Agency.

The Agency were a 21st century internet conspiracy nutter's wet dream, they were a government agency out of control with no care or scruples about what they did or what they were playing with. The addition of time travel was another dangerous mix, with paranoia and an insular attitude to the way the universe worked. In the Agency's eyes other races were out to eradicate Earth. If the Agency didn't have time travel as a part of their arsenal then the Time Lords would never have bothered with them, but unfortunately, they did, and they messed and intervened in events they shouldn't, uncaring about the mess they made.

In the Corsair's mind, this freak of nature shouldn't be here, but he was nonetheless intrigued about how he became fixed in time. Then he noticed the amount of artron energy coming from him, the sort you found in a TARDIS. _Please say he didn't travel with a Time Lord_, the Corsair mentally begged. No Time lord would be so foolish...

The time agent gaped at him before getting control over himself, meeting the dangerous look in the other man's eyes, " What's a Time agent?" He asked, hoping to bluff the stranger. Then his eyes focused on something away from the Corsair's eyes. The Corsair risked a look down, keeping his senses attuned to the agents body language.

The man was looking at his hand where the sonic screwdriver was. The Time agents eyes shot up to look him in the eyes, " A sonic screwdriver?" he whispered. To the Corsair's surprise, the agent flipped open his vortex manipulator, and scanned him. When the device finished with a whirl, he looked up slowly.

" You're a Time Lord, aren't you?" he whispered, almost reverently.

The Corsair's grip on his sonic screwdriver tightened as he watched the Time Agent, now convinced something was wrong. He was worried; why was the Time Agent not reaching for his weapon? He didn't know what the policy concerning Time Lords in the Agency was at the moment, but when he last checked Time lords were their No.1 enemy. Had that changed, or was this...thing lulling him into a false sense of security? The Corsair wasn't going to let that happen. Time Lords were biological miracles, a single cell could help cure innumerable diseases, grant high degrees of senses both telepathic and temporal. Time Lord biology could also yield the secrets of regeneration and the Rassilon imprimature, allowing other races to travel through time and tear it to shreds. Weapons could also be created from Time Lord biology, and the Corsair had no intention of being why hundreds of races were wiped out.

The Agent could see that the Time Lord was nervous, and understood why, " I left the Agency a long time ago. I've travelled with Two Time lords."

The Corsair hadn't expected that, nor could he imagine why any Time Lord would be so foolish to let this...freak anywhere near a TARDIS.

" Oh," the Corsair challenged, " who?"

" The Doctor, and Romana. We also met the Master. Then Rani, and the Doctor's granddaughter," the Agent replied.

The Corsair couldn't believe it. He'd known of course that some of his people had survived, but it was hard to actually figure out who they were. Now it made sense; how else could the time agent know about the Doctor and Romana if he hadn't travelled with them? The mention of the Master was another surprise, he'd hoped that psycho was dead and gone, lost in his delusions of grandeur.

Refusing to get his hopes up, and half convinced this was some sort of trap, the Corsair glowered at the time agent. " You could've gotten the information from another source," he said watching the other man closely, even though it hurt to do so. His instincts were pounding the walls of his mental barriers, screaming for Corsair to run away from this perversion of temporal physics.

The Time Agent didn't seem surprised by the Corsair's reactions.

* * *

Frustration gripped the insides of Jack Harkness. It had been a week since the fall of Torchwood three, Ianto was dead, Gwen was in fact a Time Lady along with Tosh, and the pair of them had gone off to rebuilt the Time Lords, and the 456s had been defeated by the Doctor who'd come back to Earth without Romana for a visit, and the Doctor hadn't spoken about her, and Jack had no way of knowing what'd happened to her. Romana hadn't seemed to the sort to leave, but Jack would hold out judgement. Unfortunately, the Doctor hadn't been able to save his grandson, Steven. The ex time agent didn't hate the Doctor for it, the Doctor had tried so hard to help Jack, but there was nothing that could've been done.

He'd been travelling the Earth for six months, trying to find some way of ridding himself of his grief. He'd come back to Cardiff to drown out his sorrows before he left; Jack had found a cold fusion freighter, leaving for new pastures. The thought of leaving 21st century Earth was one that appealed to Jack, he'd been stranded here, hitching rides on the TARDIS, but never actually exploring the universe. His time in the Agency had been on official business, and Jack had never really had a chance to actually explore. If Jack was honest, he would say he was disgusted with Earth, especially after the way they were willing to let their own children be taken like that. The Doctor had offered him a chance to leave in the TARDIS, but Jack had been grieving at the time. The Doctor's rage with Earth and the 456 scared Jack, and the Doctor had warned the aliens that if they ever darkened the skies of Earth again, he would wipe them out. The 456, knowing the Doctor by reputation, had left, terrified.

Now, he was dealing with another Time Lord, whose suspicion of him reminded him vividly of the first time he and the Doctor had met. Jack hadn't met that many Time Lords, and whenever the words Time agent were mentioned, they froze and regarded him with caution, and a little anger. Jack couldn't really say he blamed them; the Time Agency had a reputation, and their constant meddling in time must've irked and pissed the Time Lords off on more than one occasion.

After speaking with the Time Lord, Jack could tell this Time Lord had obviously only just appeared; the Time Lord survivors must be popping up like rabbits after the Doctor had found Romana and the Master.

Jack wasn't surprised by the Time lords' accusations, " You're right, I could've. But where would I've gotten them? There's not much on the Time Lords, and the ones on record from the Agency were hardly well known. There was one that was an issue. A Time lord by the name of the Corsair, and he had a tattoo similar to that one," Jack pointed at the tattoo on the Corsair's forearm.

The Corsair cursed, but said nothing.

Jack sighed, " Read my mind,"

" What?"

Jack held back the urge to smile; there wasn't anything humourous here, and the Time Lord wouldn't find anything funny here about reading the mind of a Time Agent.

" Read my mind," Jack repeated, " It's the only way of knowing for sure if I'm telling the truth."

Jack carefully watched the Corsair, the Time Lord not moving. Jack took out his revolver, setting the weapon down on the counter. He glanced at the Corsair, and said, " I'm not armed. I wont harm you. The Doctor would kill me a million times over if I did that."

The Corsair quirked an eyebrow, and he conceded the point. The Time agent's knowledge of his people was staggering, and reading his mind was the best way of actually telling if he was telling the truth about that knowledge. The Corsair moved closer, keeping his telepathic senses attuned, and trying to fight off the nausea his instincts were creating; how the Doctor and Lady Romana could stand being in this man's presence whilst the Corsair had to use all his Time Lord cool was anyone's guess.

The Corsair gripped the Agents face, fingers seeking the appropriate mental points. The Corsair frowned in concentration as he read the mind of the Time agent; all Time Agents underwent psychic training that extended into telepathy, and their mental shields were quite strong. It wasn't long before the Agent lowered his shields and allowed the Corsair access to his mind. The nausea the Corsair had felt before was now made worse by the 51st century sex drive, the people of this time were sometimes driven by sex, and they thought about it occasionally, but they didn't live on it like people from the 51st century, a time when Humanity's population was massive and crossed over 4 galaxies. The Corsair remembered his first and only visit to that century; there were brothels and strip clubs all over, but they were breeding farms really, with mothers having children from a dozen different fathers, and carrying them all at once, the rite of marriage gone.

The Corsair shook the disturbing memories off, including his one night stand with a few women with heightened sex drives from that time, and forced his mind into Jacks. He saw the Agent as a boy, memories of growing up, the pain of his brother..., the Corsair focused on the training the Agency had put him though - whatever he thought about the agency, the Corsair had to admit they did a good job in training their people - a list of steady and successful missions...then two years of his life wiped. The Corsair wasn't surprised; the Time Agency sometimes did that with their people when they stumbled across something that was disturbing, and it was more than likely that Jack Harkness had stumbled across something serious; the Corsair was frustrated he couldn't find the man's own name, the latter hiding it deep inside his brain. The Corsair saw the memory of Jack's first meeting with the Doctor, shocked at seeing the Doctor's ninth form. The size of those ears...The Corsair approved of the leather jacket, it looked more fashionable that the questionable things the Doctor had worn in different incarnations. When memory Jack called the Doctor " Mr Spock," the Corsair laughed at the dumbfounded look in his old friend's eye. The Ninth Doctor surprised the Corsair, he looked like a man who could go from cheerful into sullen, and his face looked sculptured for scowling. The Corsair wasn't sure if he approved of that Doctor's choice for companion; Miss Rose Tyler, as Jack's mind identified her as was someone the Corsair would keep at arms length. It was clear she seemed to consider the Doctor her personal shield from harm, but to actually see scenic London via barrage balloon in the middle of an air raid was pushing the Corsair's love for danger. As the memories continued, each showing Jack becoming more and more someone who could be trusted after that mistake with the Chula nanogenes; how he couldn't have realised was beyond the Corsair, but as the memories continued the Corsair was becoming impressed with the man. The Corsair stopped when he saw memory Jack, the Doctor and Rose in front of the Dalek emperor. The Dalek Emperor was responsible for millions of atrocities during the War, and he'd survived, falling through time and space, only to end up in the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. The Corsair felt ill when the Emperor gloated about using raw human materials to create new Daleks, did the Daleks gloat like that? It seemed a bit too emotional for the Corsair, but he continued seeing the memories.

The Corsair paused when Jack saw the Ninth Doctor lean against the doors of his newly regenerated TARDIS, the burnt out Dalek casing on the console dais. The Doctor was trembling with an emotion the Corsair couldn't identify, the Daleks cries of " You will be exterminated," ringing as their weapons launched futile blasts on the shield the Doctor had rigged up to protect his ship, and the Corsair guessed that the Daleks were pissing the Doctor off. The Battle of Satellite 5 sped through the Corsair's mind, and the Corsair felt ill when he saw the Daleks kill even more people, and he could see and understand the Scholar's opinion that the Doctor should've wiped the Daleks out without caring for his own emotional upset. Look what the result was.

The Daleks killing Jack, only for Jack to be brought back to life, shocked and disgusted the Corsair; the memory Jack took a deep breath, stunned to find he'd been killed and then brought back. The Corsair knew of many races that believed themselves superior, how they believed if they were hit with a Dalek weapon blast then they'd get up as if nothing had happened. Now, they were all dead. Jack should be dead, not even a Time Lord could survive a blast like that and regenerate.

The Corsair watched as the Doctor's TARDIS dematerialised in front of Jack. Not wanting to view Jack's earth bound memories, he sped forward, and watched as the Doctor, now with longer hair and skinny as a rake, hug Lady Romana in a new incarnation herself, later he saw the Master, also regenerated. The Corsair felt loathing for the Master circulate through him, and he didn't care if Jack felt that loathing. Jack himself hated the Master, and it didn't take long for the Corsair to see why; the memories of the painful tortures the Master had put Jack under horrified the Corsair. The Time Lord mentally shuddered when he heard the Master's insane cackle. What did surprise the Corsair, however, was the apparent view of Rose Tyler on the Master's side, and his wife, the Corsair watched as the little bitch proved she was as maniacal as her spouse. The Corsair grinned when he saw the Doctor, now restored from his tiny and wizened form, fight back against the Master. The Corsair felt the echo of Jack's awe, but since this was basic telepathic science, the Corsair felt nothing except delight the Doctor had got one over the Master once more.

He was angry, however, to see the Master escape in his own TARDIS.

Later he saw as Jack, the Doctor and Romana deal with what seemed like a bigoted version of UNIT. It was this sight that made the Corsair glad that he himself interact with organisations like that. The Corsair was delighted when he was referenced, but even in the memory, he could see the Doctor and Romana's sadness about the memories he invoked.

Spinning the memories on, the Corsair had no intention of listening to the origins of the Time War, and saw the resurrection of the Rani and Susan. Now convinced about the Time Agent's goodwill the Corsair withdrew his mind from Jacks.

" Alright, I believe you," The Corsair admitted, his belief of Jack strengthened by that fact Jack hadn't killed him whilst he was vulnerable.

Jack took a deep breath, he'd been tempted to go into Corsair's mind, but he resisted the urge. He'd needed the Time Lord to trust him, and now he did. The only thing that bothered him was the fact he didn't seem to trust the Doctor even though the pair of them were friends, and seemed like they were made from the same mould.

" I felt your dislike of the Master when you saw my memories of the Year that never was," Jack observed, watching the Corsair closely. " You don't like the Master do you?"

" You're right, I don't," Corsair sighed, " The Doctor gives him too much leeway, because they used to be friends. But the Master stopped thinking about the Doctor in a good light centuries ago. I also hate the fact he betrayed the Time Lords." The sudden pain in the Time Lords eyes was terrible to see. " What's happened to them, Jack? In this new universe, what's become of my people?"

Jack took a deep breath, " There are quite a few of them now, I dunno for sure, the Doctor didn't tell me, but I imagine quite a few survived the war. now, the Time Lords are rebuilding. I dunno when you'll get back on your feet."

The future looked more happy for the Corsair.

* * *

As the hours passed in the Scholar's and the Corsair's TARDISes, the Scholar was trying to muster the urge to gather clothes from one of the wardrobes; the Scholar wore a less bulky version of Time Lord everyday robes; a long high collared cloak / jacket, big black boots, and gloves. The Scholar knew how touchy Humans were, and knew if he went outside from the safety of the time machines, either his or the Corsair's, he would attract too much attention. The Scholar preferred travelling incognito, even though he was more than prepared to change clothes. The only reason he was staying inside his TARDIS was because he'd been to Earth before, many times in fact, and he believed that if he went outside then he wouldn't see much of interest. The Scholar remembered the last time he'd visited 21st century Earth, and his nose wrinkled as he recalled the stenches it had been exposed to. How Humans could live in such an environment was beyond him.

The Scholar was about to forget his view on Humanity, and go out looking for the Corsair, remembering the hideous truth. They were an endangered species now, and the Corsair's safety was his responsibility. The Time lord kicked himself for forgetting that fact. The Scholar was just adding the finishing touches to his human clothes when the Corsair came back. The Scholar eyed him thoughtfully; the Corsair had looked like he'd been about to jump off a cliff, or into a black hole when the Scholar had last seen him, and now he looked more like his reputed old self.

" What happened to you? I was getting worried," The Scholar admonished. The Corsair ignored him. " I met a friend of the Doctor's, a man who says that the Time Lords are rebuilding,"

" Why should that be a matter for celebration, we both knew that?"

" Yes, but that man told me that there's hope," The Corsair replied. He wasn't going to say the man he'd met with was an ex and immortal fixed point Time Agent. The Scholar wasn't happy with the Doctor as it was.

The Corsair had gone out because he was afraid of the Time Lords future, and now he was certain they were going to survive.

* * *

" I hate these things," The Doctor complained when he fixed his robes. Romana slapped his hands away, a frown on her face as she tried to straighten the mess he'd made of the collar already. Both were wearing traditional Time Lord robes, the Doctor was wearing the robes of a Prydonian, long scarlet and orange robes, and the Doctor remembered only too well how much he hated them.

The trouble with Time Lord fashion was that it was far too ceremonial, meaning that they were incredibly bulky, and that they were for show rather than practicality. The Doctor's eyes narrowed when he saw Romana, radiant in her white gown, and the Doctor wished male Time Lord robes were as light as the feminine equivalent.

" I know you do," Romana muttered, trying to straighten the collar, and making her love feel as if a noose was tightening around his neck. " But this is an important day, and you've already missed it twice. I want you to face up to the fact that the Time Lords are still alive."

The Doctor sighed. It had been three years since New Gallifrey had been founded, and in that time the new city was practically finished, but the Doctor was never comfortable. He was happier whilst he and Romana travelled in the TARDIS, looking for new and uninhabited planets for the Time Lords to colonise. After the Time Lord's stagnation on Gallifrey, never colonising new worlds, the Doctor wasn't going to let the same thing happen again. If the Time lords were to survive, then they had to live offworld as well. He also had to get away from the Time lords; his guilt over Gallifrey's destruction and many of his actions before, during and after the war haunting every heartbeat, and he was afraid that if he stayed on Gallifrey then the Time Lords would gang up on him. Romana, Susan, Flavia, and a few of his friends argued he was wrong, but the Doctor could see it in the others eyes, the disappointment, the anger of their races near extinction. He could tell that his loved ones could see it too, they were just trying to protect him from the harsh reality of the pain of the Time Lord's destruction.

Romana could see the look of heartbreak on the Doctor's face; she knew him well enough to know how painful this day was. The founding of New Gallifrey was on the same day of the original and late Gallifrey's destruction. It was meant to show the new generations that even though Gallifrey had been destroyed, their people had survived, they'd found a new home, and prospered. She, Flavia, Susan and a few of his friends had tried to keep the Doctor away from the angry Time Lords who resented the fact he hadn't been vapourised or even exiled for his ' crimes.' Romana noticed that none of them had stopped Rassilon's plan, and they'd survived. She knew that they were trying to find someone else to blame to cover up their own inaction.

Romana finished with the Doctor's collar, and went into their room. When she came back, the look of distaste on the Doctor's face increased. In Romana's hands were two skullcaps. Traditional Time Lord clothes, the Doctor hated them, and so did many others who left Gallifrey. Again, Romana's was much lighter. The Doctor put his on after a moment's hesitation, but when he was faced with Romana's glare, he put it on. He winced when he felt the bloody things weight on his cranium. He remembered, in the final days of his Third Incarnation, when he and Sarah had travelled to the Middle ages to deal with the Sontaran Linx, Professor Rubeish ramble on about how hats and wigs overheated the brain. He should've put on of these damned thinfs on his head, and see what the result was.

The celebrations included singing of traditional Time Lord songs; the Doctor felt his hearts grow heavy as he watched the new generation of Time Lords, many of them babies cry when they heard the rhythmic songs. He knew how they felt, these songs were meant to show Time Lord superiority in music, and they weren't meant for the ears of children. He knew of quite a few Time Lords raising families and settling down. As the ceremony carried on, the Doctor caught the eyes of a few Time Lords, and he felt a chill when he saw the lack of forgiveness. Some might say it was unTime Lordish for Time Lords to be so irrational, but to the Doctor, their anger was rational. It hurt, but it was fact.

He saw that not everyone here was dressed in Time lord robes; he could see the Silurian- Time lords mingle. wearing what looked like a cross between stately and aristocratic Time lord robes and Silurian tunics. He thought they looked very fetching.

Flavia stood up, the new leader of the Time Lords smiling down as she prepared to deliver a speech, " Friends, Time Lords!" She shouted through a voice magnifier, " It has been a difficult year for us, the Old original Time Lord race, but our future is secured by the hybrid races."

" You mean the half breeds?" Someone shouted angrily, ignoring the looks as the Human, Chula, Monan Host and Silurian hybrids turned to face him. The hybrid races, including the Arcadian subspecies, were the only ones not wearing robes, they wore clothing denoting their separate and diverse ancestry. The Doctor thought it was actually quite fetching, he was also unsurprised by the reaction of the hybrids by the general populace. In theory, the Time Lords were above that, but since there had been very few mixed species, he could see that the prejudice was still there. He exchanged a long suffering look with Romana and Susan. When he caught the Rani's expression, he wished he hadn't. Rani was pissed.

Flavia was more than aware of how the hybrids were far from popular, " Those half breeds, as you so eloquently call them, are helping us rediscover ourselves. I have been to their homeworlds, and they've achieved more in a million years than we have in a billion. They are our future." Flavia's tone was mild, but everyone could feel the tremble as folded steel was being sharpened.

Just as she was about to carry on with her speech, another Time Lord yelled, " Why's that renegade here, the one who killed off my family?" he bellowed, pointing an accusatory finger at the Doctor. The Doctor winced, but he held himself from running away. Romana took his hand, " Now you see why I hate this day," she heard him whisper. Anger shot through Romana's body, and she shot up and started yelling at the Time Lord who'd only brought her loved one more grief, " I don't remember you, some of you, standing up against Rassilon and the council for their insane plan. No, you just sat back and let the Daleks destroy our home. If anyone's to blame for the destruction of Gallifrey, its Rassilon and you. You people who let him walk all over you."

Before the crowd could degenerate even further, a familiar sound of a TARDIS landing echoed. The Rani frowned, " I thought we were all here, except for the Master."

" So did I," Flavia replied.

As the Time machine landed, the door opened.

The Doctor shot out of his seat, and ran towards his old friend, " Corsair!" He wrapped his arms around the other man, ignoring Time Lord etiquette. The Doctor noted the Corsair didn't hug him back, and as he pulled back he saw the expression on the Corsair's face. It was lined with disappointment.

" Hello, Doctor." Was all he said.

" Aren't you pleased to see me?" The Doctor asked.

" See you, yes. Pleased about the fact Gallifrey's gone, no." Corsair replied. " I heard from a friend of yours that you rescued Lady Romana, and since then other Time Lords have returned, but Jack Harkness told me that before that you travelled alone. How did you not find the time to recover a race bank or so? They were lying around all over the place."

The Doctor sheepishly moved back. The Corsair was right about the race banks. Rassilon had frowned on them, but Romana hadn't cared. She'd ordered them made and filled with pure Time Lord DNA. The Doctor had tried to recover one before he set up the Moment, but he hadn't found one available. Since the destruction of their homeworld, the Doctor had tried his best to find the others, knowing that Romana and her followers had scattered them throughout space and time, but they were hard to find, and the TARDIS couldn't lock on to them.

In the face of the Corsair, the Doctor was guilty, as far as the Doctor could see.

That hurt the Doctor.


	37. Chapter 37

The next logical step in Romana and the Doctor's relationship. I own nothing of Doctor Who.

" **Will you marry me?"**

The Doctor was lying in bed, his arms propped up and supporting his head, thinking about the depressing day he'd had, made worse by the Corsair. While he loved the thought of his old friend back, he understood his anger. The guilt over the destruction of Gallifrey hit him hard, but it was only the rebuilding of the Time lords that kept him going. They would never be as far reaching as they'd been in the past, but at least they would be there for the future. He was watching his beautiful Romana getting dressed for bed. Romana stopped combing her hair, looking at his reflection in the mirror. He looked melancholy.

" You're thinking about what the Corsair said, aren't you?" She asked. If there was one thing you learnt about the Doctor it was that he wore his hearts on his wrists and it was incredibly easy to get under his skin.

The Doctor sighed, realising he wasn't going to hide anything from this woman. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

" Yeah," He whispered, his voice a broken heartened whisper. " He's right though." He carried on. " I should've gotten my hands on a race back. Instead I just destroyed our planet."

Romana stopped brushing her hair and marched over to the Doctor, and grabbed his head. " You listen to me," she hissed. " I survived the destruction of our people, so did self righteous cowards like the Priest, and he didn't bother recovering a race bank. Hardly any one stopped to recover any of them. People like the Rani plan ahead. You were trying to stop a full scale universal war."

The Doctor shook her hands off, " No Romana, the Corsair had a point."

" He pointed out you'd been beating yourself since you stopped the Daleks. What would he know? The Corsair was one of the renegades that told me about what Rassilon was planning but not what he was doing. He must've had hundreds of opportunities to get his hands on a bank, but he didn't. Only the Rani was the one to plan ahead, the Corsair didn't." Romana pointed out.

The Doctor frowned, " Are you saying that the Corsair could've taken a race bank, that if he was so bothered about the destruction of Gallifrey he'd have done something about it?"

Romana didn't want to admit it, but she knew she had no choice. She walked round to her side of the bed and got under the covers, kissing the Doctor on the lips gently. " What could he have done? You of all people know how hopeless it was by then. The Corsair's many things, but a fighter isn't one of them."

" But-"

" No buts. The end of Gallifrey wasn't your fault. Besides," Romana added, " we aren't the only ones left. The Rani herself has created strains of different Time Lord races, and their thriving. It might take centuries but we'll be able to rebuild our society. We've got the building blocks we didn't have when it was just you."

The Doctor agreed with her there. When he'd been convinced he was the only Time Lord in the universe, he had only himself and the TARDIS, and the artifacts and the records of his people, not enough to rebuild a civilisation as old as the universe itself. When he'd found Romana, the Master and other Time Lords, the essence of his people had survived. The Master, the Rani, Susan, the Priest and others all had their own TARDISes meaning he and his ship were no longer unique. Romana's face, hardened by the thought of the Corsair, softened, " Doctor, there was nothing you could've done. The Corsair was usually on the frontline of the war, but the fact is even if you'd thought of getting a race bank you would never have been able to get your hands on one. Rassilon made sure of that." The thought of Rassilon made both of them frown. " Doctor, Rassilon was a hero, a symbol. Not a soldier. He didn't lead from the front, and he ignored everyone. The Time lords became lazy in the war, he just sat back and let people die. Me, I stayed on the front, and that didn't make Rassilon happy. He was a monster, he didn't care about anything but his plan. The Corsair couldn't have stopped him, so he's blaming you."

The Doctor didn't look convinced.

Romana sighed, " Doctor, no one, not even you could've stopped the Daleks in the long run. You fought them over countless centuries, but you'd never fought the whole species before. It wasn't your fault. I don't blame you."

It wasn't your fault, those words echoed through his mind even when Romana had gone to sleep.

* * *

A few hours later, Romana was asleep but the Doctor wasn't, even though he had Romana cuddled up to him he couldn't sleep. No matter what Romana and his granddaughter said, he had to crack a smile at the thought of Susan smacking the Corsair for his lack of compassion, no matter how undeserving he, the Doctor was, he simply couldn't get over what his old friend had said.

A part of him wanted to admit to himself that he couldn't have gotten to a race bank even if he'd wanted to. The race banks had been frowned upon by Rassilon and his yes men. Romana was right about Rassilon not leading from the frontline, when the waste of space had been resurrected after the disaster with the Master, people had thought ' oh the war will be ending soon,' how wrong they were. The war was prolonged by 12 years. 12 years of destruction on both sides, with the Time lords becoming more and more unstable, fulfilling their dangerous potential, the same potential they'd shown over the centuries, only instead of rising above it they just fell even lower than they'd ever done in the past. The Doctor closed his eyes in agony as he went over the memories of that last day. Everything had been so chaotic, people had been dying and trying to escape from the Dalek attack on Gallifrey, he'd had dozens of times in his past over his ten incarnations where life had thrown him into the most terrifying events, but the Time War beat them all because it involved his entire species. His Eighth incarnation, oh how idealistic he'd been then, but now, two lives past he'd changed in a universe more unfriendly, but with there being Time Lords survivors, the future wasn't as bleak as it had been before. There had been times when the Doctor had travelled before he met Romana and the Master when he'd had nightmares and overwhelming depressions, no not depressions, that was the wrong word to describe it, but there was no other adjective to describe the urge he'd had to throw himself into a supernova or blow up the TARDIS. The nightmares he'd had had been more horrific, dreams of Susan and Romana, the two most precious Time Ladies he'd known - his ex wife didn't count, she'd been a dragon and he'd have cut off his right arm just to get away from the woman the first time around - and their eyes were dark, their skin pasty like as they called him a murderer, that he'd killed them, only for him to wake up and sob himself to death. The discovery he hadn't killed either of them had been a balm to his soul. Romana was right, he'd met the Daleks over dozens of separate encounters, but he'd never encountered the whole species. The Daleks had attacked Gallifrey in one massive wave, ten million ships, millions of Daleks...against a bunch of ' ancient, dusty senators,' as Brother Lassar, the Krillitane who called himself Mr Finch had so aptly described his race, and the sad fact was he was right. The Time lords had been ancient, dusty, arrogant, but Finch hadn't realised how potentially vicious and cold blooded the Time Lords had been. The Krillitanes were a vicious warlike species, but even they'd never tried to destroy the universe before, that business with the Skasis paradigm didn't count unless you thought about the Krillitanes rewriting the cosmos to be exactly like that of the Krillitanes. It depended on your point of view, but the Daleks had forced Rassilon - at least that was how the Doctor liked to think about it, he couldn't really accept one of the greatest Time Lords in history would automatically give up after fighting monstrosities like the Great Vampires, although the Doctor had a nasty and sneaking suspicion Rassilon had stolen the credit from other Time Lords, like he'd done with Omega.

The thought of Omega made the Doctor go cold. Had Rassilon sabotaged Omega's launch and detonation of the Star? After seeing the levels of megalomania in Rassilon, the Doctor wouldn't put it past him.

Was the Corsair right though? Was he right that instead of simply stowing a dozen race banks onboard his TARDIS he would've made some effort in rebuilding his own people without moping around the universe? When the Doctor had heard the Corsair had spoken to Jack, he couldn't believe it. The last time Jack and the Doctor had met hadn't been very pleasant, but the Doctor couldn't and would not believe the former Time agent had been that petty. Jack was one of his best friends, and you could always depend on Jack to help you with any kind of problem, and Jack's work at Torchwood was exceptional, much more better than the monstrosity run by that mad bitch Yvonne Hartman. At least Jack knew better than to meddle with the dimensional barriers.

The Doctor put Jack out of his mind, and brought up everything about the Corsair to the front of his mind. The Corsair was a buccaneer, and not a fighter, he played pranks. That story of the Dalek scouting group Clarkor Nine where the Daleks found their suction pads stuck into a Skarosian parody sprang to mind, stand up fighting wasn't his style. He preferred hit and run attacks with a plan behind them.

The Doctor closed his eyes, pushing the thoughts of the Corsair into the back of his mind, and brought up images of Romana to help him sleep.

* * *

" You want to travel again, don't you?" Romana asked over a breakfast of cereal and fruits. The Doctor's spoon circled around in his bowl, he knew he should be more positive about his body language, but he knew better than to hide things from this woman. She knew him better than he knew himself.

The Doctor didn't even deny it, " Yes. I want us both to go. Travel around before coming back."

" You know we can't do that. I've got to help the others." Romana protested, feeble as she sounded. She'd often wanted to talk to the Doctor into leaving New Gallifrey. She'd been holding back for stupid reasons.

The Doctor saw right through her, " You wanna leave to, don't you?"

" I've given it thought." Romana whispered. The Doctor grinned.

" When do you wanna leave?" He asked.

" Whenever your ready." She replied and tucked into her food.

The Doctor smiled as he watched her eat, then he got up and walked around to her part of the table. Romana looked up bewildered. " What is it? What's wrong?"

The Doctor didn't answer verbally, instead he answered by pulling from his pocket a very old necklace with a jewel on it. Romana's breath caught in her throat when she saw what it was. It was a betrothal necklace, the Time Lord equivalent of a Human engagement ring. Romana looked at it closely, and her time sense told her it was over 17,000 years old.

The Doctor was getting worried about her silence and started babbling, " I understand if you don't want to. I just thought umf," He was saying before he was cut off by Romana's lips pressing on his. When they both came up for air, she asked with her eyes twinkling full blast, " Does that answer your question? Of course I'll marry you, you dolt." She said, a grin matching his on her face.

**A/N The wedding in the next chapter. I wanted it in one big chapter. Please review. **


	38. Chapter 38 The Wedding

The Wedding.

The Doctor straightened out his collar with Susan's help, wincing at the uncomfortable feeling of the fabric. " Hold still!" Susan ordered. The Doctor rolled his eyes. After 3 minutes more of wrestling the offending collar, Susan stepped back to admire her handy work. " That'll do. Grandmother, what do you think?" Susan asked Rani, who was leaning against the wall, smirking at the Doctor's predicament. The normally cold Time Lady was genuinely happy for her old schoolmate, but she'd really needed to resist the urge to laugh as Susan had wrestled her grandfather into the wedding robes.

" I think he looks good. Wonderfully done Susan, although it would've been easier on you if you'd had some co-operation." Rani said at last, fixing the Doctor with a glare that spoke volumes.

" Hey, these clothes are uncomfortable. Look at me, why can't we just wear normal clothes?" The Doctor whined like a little child not getting his way, again.

Susan and Rani folded their arms, somehow looking alike inspite of their different ethnic appearances, and reminding the Doctor that Susan got most of her looks from Rani's side of the family, and not from him. " Because this is a traditional Time Lord marriage ceremony, and because Romana deserves only the best." The Rani reminded him. " You're not breaking Romana's hearts by wearing something different. She loves you, but like Grandmother said, Romana deserves only the best. By wearing something else you'll break her hearts, and if you do we won't forgive you, and neither will she." Susan added in the same vein as her grandmother, her arms folded, and her dark eyes, usually filled with warmth were now narrowed. The Doctor's argument deflated at the thought of breaking Romana's hearts. He admitted that he could be undeniably careless and thoughtless, but when it came down to it he wouldn't break the hearts of the woman he loved. He turned back to look at himself in the mirror. He had to admit his robes weren't as bad as the robes worn on Old Gallifrey. The wedding robe was much more smaller and less bulky than those robes had been. Wedding robes had followed the same basic design as the centuries passed.

The Doctor was wearing two different robes, the first one was like a jacket or a cloak and cascaded down to the floor. This robe itself was white, symbolising light and love, with astronomical symbols and Time Lord script in gold thread. The second robe was light blue and was more like a shirt or a set of Roman robes worn by a senator only these ones were in one layer.

Rani and Susan wore purple robes, the colour Romana had chosen, and they were more like dresses. That was something about Time Lady fashion the Doctor didn't understand, the men suffered whilst the women didn't and wore less. The Doctor looked around the room, trying to find something to take his mind off his nervousness - what man wasn't terrified about impending marriage, even to the most beautiful woman both in soul and body? - and simply looked around, taking in his surroundings.

* * *

The room was identical in every respect to the marriage rooms on Old Gallifrey, and the most special thing about this one was that this was not inside a TARDIS, where the TARDIS would simply adjust the Architectural configuration system and present the room like a holographic program. Romana, Flavia, Susan and Rani had driven people mad just to make it perfect, driving people to the point of insanity just to make it perfect. The Doctor had to admit they'd done a good job, the recreation without deciding to simply use a TARDIS showed just how committed his granddaughter, her grandmother, old friend and fiancé were to making this wedding perfect, and the Doctor preferred this service to the one he'd had on Gallifrey centuries ago to that harpy he'd married. That service had been a pro Time Lord ceremony, meaning there wasn't anything original. The Doctor wondered why Romana wasn't going for that option since she'd been one of those Time Ladies who'd been fanatical, when he'd first met her, but she'd surprised him with this and the amount of detail she'd put into it. Then again, Romana always was keen on detail, and the thought of going with the simple option must've been repugnant to her. The isle was split with two sides for friends and family members, and ornamental torches stood above them.

The room was in the shape of a hexagon, made sense considering the number 6 was an important one in Time Lord society and culture, and it was very expansive, and the Doctor saw most of his old companions - Martha, Sarah Jane, Tegan, Polly and Ben, Peri - all were here, and the Doctor had to smirk at the reactions they'd had when they'd met the new him, including clueless ones like Ian and Barbara, and the Doctor's smirk grew as he remembered meeting them again.

_FLASHBACK. _

_The Doctor and Susan were just walking into the hallways to the changing room when they heard voices. " Why are we here, and why did you kidnap us?" _

" _You've got a TARDIS? The only person we know who's got a TARDIS is the Doctor?" _

_Susan and the Doctor glanced at each other, recognising the two voices. " They're here?" Susan asked amazed. She hadn't heard those two voices in centuries. The Doctor nodded, " Yeah, but I told the idiot to simply invite them here, not kidnap them. Better get in there, last thing we need's a fight." _

_Both of them headed in the direction of the argument, and the Doctor and Susan stopped in the doorway, for similar reasons. For Susan, it was amazement that she was seeing her two old friends again, but they hadn't aged. For the Doctor, it was the same reason, only it was clear the years had matured the pair, even though they hadn't aged beyond the day they'd last met, all those years ago. _

_Susan glanced at the Doctor, " Why haven't they aged?" _

_His eyes still on them, he replied, " I tried, for 2 years, to return them home, but my link with the TARDIS was still rudimentary. Every time we travelled it was trial and error, a lottery that never worked. When we were chased through time by the Daleks, they saw an opportunity to leave for home, and they simply took it." _

" _That doesn't explain why they aged," Susan argued. _

_The Doctor turned his sad gaze at her, " The Dalek machine, it was powered by taranium." _

_Susan gaped at him, " Taranium? That's one of the rarest minerals in the universe. When exposed to chronon particles, it generates radiation that's unstable to organic matter. With the Daleks it's not a problem, with those shells, but with humans..." She shook her head, amazed by her grandfather's stupidity. " Why did you let them go in that thing, you know what taranium powered time machines do to living flesh? You do know it's permanent?" _

_The Doctor nodded grimly. " Afraid so." He sighed, saddened that once again he'd ruined his old friend's lives. _

_Susan saw the direction of his thoughts, and whacked him on the arm, making the Doctor go, " Ow! What was that for?"_

" _For feeling sorry for yourself, Ian and Barbara knew what they getting themselves into." _

_At the sound of their names, Ian and Barbara turned away from the harassed Time Lord who'd brought them here against their will. After the time they spent with the Doctor, being kidnapped was practically second nature. _

_Barbara looked at the two young people, and for a moment she could've sworn she recognised them, particularly the young woman with long dark hair. " I'm sorry, but can you tell us where we are?" _

" _And why we were brought here, against our will?" Ian added, looking scathingly at the Time Lord. _

" _Yes," The Doctor agreed, looking at the unfortunate Time Lord with dark eyes. This wasn't how he'd hoped to see these two amazing people. They'd made him look deeply at himself and change his lifestyle. " I told you not to kidnap them, but to welcome them here. What went wrong?"_

_The flustered young Time lord was shaking in terror in the face of the Doctor's anger. " I tried to invite them here, but they wouldn't listen. I told them about being a Time lord, and I mentioned your name Doctor, but they wouldn't listen, so I stunned them and brought them inside the TARDIS." _

_The Doctor's glare intensified, Ian and Barbara stepped back, feeling the anger this alien - they were sure he was an alien, but they both heard what the Time Lord called this man. Doctor. It couldn't be, could it?_

" _You could've handled it better, and so could I. I should've gone myself," The Doctor admitted. _

" _Who are you?" Barbara asked. The Doctor turned to face her, and the former schoolteacher who could normally make students, any students, think they were in the Sahara, and sweat profusely. " Who are you?" Barbara asked again. _

_The Doctor slowly turned to face them, Susan mirroring his movements. Susan began first. " Hello, Ian, Barbara."_

_Ian had just about had enough of this, " Look, tell us who you are. We've been kidnapped, again, and now we're-"_

" _It's me, Susan." Susan replied. " Listen, I'm definitely Susan. I kept showing you up in front of your classes, and I was shown up myself." She added wryly. _

" _And I'm the Doctor." The Doctor said, grinning. His earlier anger with the careless Time Lord forgotten. _

" _No, you're not. The Doctor's an old man, crotchety and eccentric." Ian argued. _

_The Doctor sighed. Time may not have touched this man properly yet, but his mind was still as argumentative as he had been when they first met. The Doctor knew as soon as he explained he wouldn't hear the end of it. _

" _You forced your way into the TARDIS, you followed Susan back to Trotters yard because you were curious about her at Coal Hill school. I picked up a battered old painting still in its frame and commented it could be cleaned, that it was a pity it got into that state. You and Barbara threatened to find a policeman, I promised to stay behind. When you insinuated I'd run away, I replied I would be insulted. Just as you were about to leave, Susan called from the TARDIS, and you Barbara forced your way inside whilst I wrestled with Ian." The Doctor folded him arms. _

" _Oh my god!" Barbara exclaimed, her eyes wide as she took in the two young people. _

" _It's a biological process," Susan explained, holding up her hands. " When our bodies grow old or are injured, we regenerate. Become new. Every cell...changes, and shift around. There's a change of personality, a change of appearance." _

" _How many times have you done it?" Barbara whispered. Ian was so shocked he couldn't speak. Barbara carried on, " I mean, have you done this before we met...? _

_The Doctor smiled, " No. We were both in our first lives when we first met." The Doctor smiled at his granddaughter, wrapping a warm arm around her shoulders. " Our timelines are...nonlinear, because Susan left after that Dalek invasion, and because she stayed with David, so then she hadn't needed to regenerate. I'm in my 10th life, and Susan's in her 2nd." _

_Ian breathed, " It's not possible." _

_The Doctor groaned, " Again, Ian, this you where you give up. You see aliens, yet you put a Human spin on their nature, narrowing your understanding of them. Susan and I are not Human, we don't have the same life cycle you do. Why is regeneration so hard to understand? Humans shed dead cells all the time, your organs break down, meaning your own cells continually regenerate themselves." _

" _But - " _

_The Doctor stopped Ian, " No, Ian. It's true, I'm the Doctor, and this is Susan." He repeated. The Doctor sighed, realising that it would take lots of persuasion just to get Ian to accept the truth. That was the problem with the man, he was intelligent but his thinking was so 2 dimensional. _

_FLASHBACK ENDS. _

The Doctor shook himself out of his memories when he heard a soft fluting music start up. The ceremony had begun. Flavia, Rani and Susan, the Gallifreyan equivalent of bridesmaids, came forward. Flavia and Rani were holding ornamental torches, elaborately carved and polished, and they lit the torches. Susan was carrying a tray with two goblets, a bowl with some local fruit, a glass with a flower in it, and a knife on it.

The Doctor felt his hearts quicken when he saw Romana herself, wearing silver trimmed robes similar to what Susan and Rani were wearing. There was no best man in a ceremony like this. Romana was wearing a strapless robes, and she was holding wild flowers that were both delicate and yet beautiful at the same time, and the Doctor couldn't help but feel they were appropriate for Romana, who gave off an air of delicacy and yet strong beauty at the same time.

When Romana got to him, both Susan and Rani stood to the side, their heads bowed out of respect for the ceremony. Flavia stood in front of the tray, and held up the knife. The Humans in the room held their breaths, but they kept still thankfully. This was an alien ceremony and was different to what they knew back on Earth.

" Our ancestors believed the universe blessed marriages, through blood and souls," Flavia announced as the music died down. " We are here to bless the universe with the union of these two Time Lords, who have known each other for many centuries." She handed the knife to the Doctor, who took it slightly hesitantly.

" I take this knife to bless our union," he said, holding up Romana's hand and cutting it gently. Romana didn't even wince as she looked at him with love as the wound drew blood, controlling the flow of blood she held out her hand for the knife. Romana took it from her husband to be, and held out the knife for all to see.

" I take this knife to bless our union," She said, repeating the Doctor's words. She made a similar cut on the Doctor's hand. As she did, the lights died down and the ceiling showed a realtime view of the stars.

Flavia smiled around the room. " The cosmos smiles down on these two." To the Doctor, she said. " Do you take this woman, to be your wife and joined soul?"

The Doctor smiled. " I take you, Romanadvoratrelunder, as my joined soul, and my wife." As he said this, they held hands, letting the blood mix.

Romana kept her composure, but everyone could see the depth of her emotions. " I take you," she said his Time Lord name so quickly the Humans didn't catch it. Everyone had secrets afterall. " as my joined soul, and my husband."

Flavia held out the goblets, which were filled with a colourless liquid. The Doctor and Romana squeezed a drop of blood into both of them, and the liquid bubbled and turned yellowish gold before settling on turquoise and the liquid steamed.

Flavia took the blood soaked knife, and sliced the fruit before dropping a piece into each of the goblets before adding a petal from the flower into the mix.

" Drink to celebrate your union."

The fruit was a common enough one on Old Gallifrey, with seeds growing on plantations. The fruit had been considered to have many mystical powers by Gallifreyans of the past, whilst the flower was like a medicinal herb. As both Time Lords drank from the goblets, they felt a cool taste trickle down their throats.

They were married.

* * *

As the Doctor and Romana were getting into bed on their wedding night, the Doctor couldn't help but grin as he watched his wife jump into the bed and they clambered under the covers.

_That was a lovely day,_ the Doctor remarked in his mind as he thought about the wedding and how his friends had been.

He could feel the mental smirk Romana had when she got closer to him, and the Doctor shuddered as she felt his new wife's magic touch on his thigh...

Yes, it felt good to be finally married!

**A/N Sorry that I didn't add much interaction between the Doctor and his former companions, but I wanted the ceremony to focus on him and Romana. **


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N I'm sorry if your disappointed that I'm not writing the whole of series 4 in, but I have two reasons. First, I wanted to condense the main parts of the series into 2 simple chapters. These chapters are the among the most important parts of the story, and I'm not spending too much time writing out series 4. It took me ages to do the series 3 finale with the Master. **

**Second. I don't have series 4. Easy. Sorry if you think I'm lazy, but I want to structure the story like this and deal with the important parts so then there's more impact. **

The Stolen Earth.

The Doctor stood next to the console, staring at the console monitor so then he didn't have to look at Donna Noble, who was glaring at him accusingly and looking prepared to show the slaps she'd given him the first time they'd met would be a tap in comparison to what she'd do to him next. The Doctor couldn't say he blamed her that much, after all they'd been through she was right, he'd never once given up. The tandoka scale had brought them here, of all the places in the cosmos, why did it have to be at the Medusa Cascade? That was one thing he couldn't understand, why did the Earth suddenly stop here, at an old space time rift? What about the other planets, the 26 planets stolen before Earth? Where did they fit in? Who was doing this, and why?

The Doctor remembered when he, Romana and Donna had arrived at the Shadow Proclamation, and he'd said that someone had tried to move the Earth once before. He should know, he'd been there. Back in his 1st incarnation, he'd stopped the Daleks from ripping away the magnetic core of the Earth and replacing it with a giant engine to pilot the planet around the cosmos like a giant spaceship. It wasn't impossible if you had the means, and the Daleks had done their homework, but they'd underestimated the sheer power of the Earth's magnetic energies. The Doctor wondered if his old enemies were behind this one, and he was convinced they were, but why?

_What am I gonna do? _He asked his wife, who was looking as subdued as he was.

Romana started when he spoke telepathically. _I dunno. We're stuck near a temporal rift, with no sign of the Earth or those other planets. Are you sure we shouldn't have brought others. _

The Doctor shook his head slightly so then Donna wouldn't notice it. When she was pissed Donna noticed things others didn't, and she was highly observant, that time on Messaline for instance where Donna, and not Romana, himself or Martha had noticed the date plates all over the colony. _Not until we know what's happening. Besides, what can the Judoon do about this? Our people might be able to do something, but I want answers. I just need to think about what to do next. _

_We're not going to do that sitting here,_ Romana pointed out bluntly.

The Doctor gave a mental sigh, _you think I don't know that? _Romana felt bad about her bluntness, but she couldn't think of anything to do. The Doctor suddenly checked something on the console.

" What're you doing?" Romana asked aloud for Donn'a benefit.

" Running a check on the walls of reality. I'd meant to do it when...when Donna saw Rose in that parallel world. I've been curious about what she's done recently." The Doctor replied. Romana shuddered. It was impossible not to shudder when she thought about the recent trip Donna took to that parallel world and met Rose Tyler. She could see what the Doctor meant.

The Doctor looked up from his work and regarded the screen as though a reincarnation of Kroll had appeared in front of him followed by Daleks and Cybermen. " Look at this." He said to his wife.

Romana came over at once. She saw what had made the Doctor so distraught. The walls of reality were fractured, like glass, and judging from the size and scale of the fracturing the walls must've been under intense pressure from another reality for sometime.

" Why didn't the others notice this?" Romana asked aghast.

The Doctor shrugged. " They've got their hands full, rebuilding Gallifrey, rebuilding the Time Lords. It's gonna take years for our people to reach even a shadow of what we'd had years ago."

Donna was getting sick of the byplay. " Alright, I've lost my home and you two are going on about walls and Time Lords. What's happening?"

The Doctor jumped when he heard Donna's whiplike voice. " The walls of reality are fractured Donna, that's because Rose has been coming through. If these jumps don't stop then your world will be the least of our problems."

Donna was struggling to understand. " I thought Rose coming back was a good thing."

Neither the Doctor nor Romana had really gone into much detail about the last time Rose had entered their lives, and the Doctor hadn't wanted to confuse Donna about the nightmare Rose had been apart of during the year that never was with the Master. Whilst she was aware that the Time lords were still around, albeit in a minute number than before the Time war, she still wasn't sure about the byplay between the Doctor and Romana. She was aware the two were married, and she'd been surprised since the Doctor had only just gotten over the shock with Rose's sudden and abrupt departure.

What Donna didn't know was that the Doctor had been stunned but not overly saddened by Rose leaving, especially since it meant he wouldn't be putting his life into terrible danger just to get her out of trouble, and to leave behind her overbearing attitude.

" Not if we die when the universe collapses, even I can't stop that from happening." The Doctor whispered, wondering how they were going to deal with this, plans and counter plans going through his head at warp speed. Romana watched her husband, and rubbed her belly where the new life was growing everyday. The Doctor's eyes caught the movement, and joined his wife, wrapping his arms around her pregnant belly. She was 3 months pregnant, and another 9 to go. He buried his face in her shoulder, smelling her vanilla scented hair. Romana had discovered vanilla scented shampoo after Leela had left some in the TARDIS, and she'd experimented with it, and discovered it smelt nicer than the rubbish other Time Ladies put in their hair. It was a curious thing, but nearly every Time Lady experimented with Earth shampoos. It was one of those great universal mysteries that still surprised him, and would drive you mad when you tried to figure out why. The Rani, Susan, Romana...they all loved earth shampoos, and so did he because the scents sent his hearts into near cardiac arrests, except his granddaughter of course.

He felt his child, feeling the kick. The telepathic connection between him and Romana extended to their children, and the Doctor hadn't felt a connection like this since his first children, but those bonds had broken when the harpy left him.

Donna's eyes softened at the sweet image she was getting. It was one thing to discover that the Doctor had gotten over Rose, but had now gotten married to someone he'd known from long ago, but was now an expectant father. She remembered Jenny, and how Romana and her had been on the verge of getting along with each other before General Cobb shot her.

Suddenly a phone rang, breaking the sweet moment between Time lord husband and Time Lady wife, and Time lord junior or lady. The Doctor started into action, grabbing Martha's phone.

" Martha, is that you?" He asked, but he didn't receive a reply, " It's just a signal." He muttered, taking out his stethoscope. " Can we follow it?" Donna asked.

The Doctor, now his old optimistic self, replied. " Just watch me." He put Martha's phone on the scanner and put his stethoscope ontop of it, listening to the signal before he jumped into action, racing around the console and throwing levers and switching switches.

" Got it, locking on." He threw the master lever, and the TARDIS console room jolted as the walls went red. Donna and Romana, the latter holding on to the rail and the pilot seat and holding her belly protectively. The Doctor was holding onto the console for dear life. " We're travelling through time." He grunted as the TARDIS tried to buck him and loose his footing, but he held on out of sheer stubbornness. " One second in the future. The phone call's pulling us through." A fire had started in the console room, and the TARDIS was under too much stress for the automatic fire suppression system to kick in. Finally the rocky journey started to reach it's peak, and the TARDIS rocked and groaned like she was about to explode, and Romana dimly recalled the time with the Pirate planet Zanak, when the planet tried transmatting around Earth. The Doctor called out, " Three, two, one!" All three of them yelled at the same time as the TARDIS shook even more.

The TARDIS tore through the temporal pocket, and the missing planets appeared on the scanner screen. The Doctor let go of the console when the ship returned to its usual mode of travel, stepping back and staring wide eyed at the image. " Twenty seven planets." Donna said, then she pointed at the screen. " And there's the Earth. But why couldn't we see them?" The Doctor breathed in awe at the scope of this hiding place. " The entire Medusa cascade has been put a second out of sync with the rest of the universe. Perfect hiding place. Tiny little pocket of time, but we found them!"

" We should release a beacon to keep the pocket open so we don't go through that again," Romana suggested, folding her arms and giving the Doctor a look only wives could achieve. Meekly, the Doctor released a beacon to keep the pocket opened.

The scanner screen blurred, and Four images appeared. One was Jack, and surprisingly Susan as well. Another was Martha and Francine, and Harriet Jones, who they hadn't expected to see, and Sarah Jane with a teenage boy at her side. The fourth and final box was empty. " Some sort of subwave network." The Doctor remarked as he flicked switches to clear the screen.

" Where the hell've you been? Doctor, it's the Daleks!" Jack shouted.

But the Doctor only had eyes for Susan. " Susan, what the hell are you doing there?"

" I wanted to visit Jack, then the planet was yanked away."

The Doctor nodded. " We're in the middle of the Medusa Cascade. What're the Daleks doing, we'd only just landed on Earth before it was taken. We've been all over looking for you. What are they doing?"

" That's just it, we don't know. They've got a massive ship in the middle of the planets, and they've taken people to their ship." Susan replied. The Doctor nodded, thoughtful. Then he remembered. " Jack, we have other problems. The walls of reality have been cracked, and Rose might be here on Earth."

Francine reacted at once, she grabbed hold of Martha and hugged her daughter to her chest. " That bitch?" She shouted, surprising Harriet and to an extent, Sarah. It was then the Doctor saw what Martha was wearing. " Martha, what is that on your back?" He asked. It looked like a futuristic harness with a back pack.

Jack replied before Martha. " Project Indigo. An experimental teleport, UNIT made it after salvaging technology from the Sontarans. It's not safe, it's got no stabilisation, or co-ordinates."

The Doctor couldn't believe it. " Martha, get rid of it. You don't know what your playing with. It could kill you, or worse."

Martha shook her head. " I can't."

Jack went on. " She's also got something called the Osterhagen key."

The Doctor's horror hit new levels. He'd stumbled across the Osterhagen procedure during the Year that never was. A few members of UNIT had managed to activate the stations, threatening to destroy the planet. A series of nuclear warheads under the crust, all ready to be set off. The Master had managed to stop it, and retrieve the weapons in that now redundant timeline.

" Martha," he said at last, keeping his voice as calm as possible. " Don't do it. Please, don't."

" I have to, to stop the Human race by suffering." Martha replied, her voice soft and regretful. Romana was glad that Martha would follow her duty, but her attitude reminded her of Rassilon and his ultimate plan to destroy the universe to win the Time War, but the difference between Martha and Rassilon was because one was a madman who cared only for himself, and Martha because she was desperate to save her people. That was what humans were, they focused on the relevant and ignored the petty.

" By destroying them?" The Doctor asked. " Martha, it's never an option. Anyway, we've got more important things to worry about than some stupid human's doomsday plan. What are the Daleks doing here, and where did they come from?"

Still shaken from the Doctor's open contempt for UNIT's orders, Martha made a suggestion. " Could it be Dalek Caan?"

Most of the people on the screen and inside the TARDIS were aware of the Doctor's last encounter with the Daleks, most specifically the Cult of Skaro and how their leader, Dalek Sec had tried to create a new Dalek race by splicing humans with Dalek DNA. The attempt failed because Sec had experienced positive human emotions in contrast to the more negative ones.

Caan had escaped when his fellow Daleks had been destroyed via emergency temporal shift.

The Doctor nodded, " Maybe, but I've met other Dalek survivors. This lot could be one of them. It might be Caan though."

" But wasn't the Cult of Skaro unable to create new embryos?" Martha asked.

" You're forgetting something, Martha. The Cult of Skaro had escaped to the 1930s, forcing them to rely on the primitive technology there. If they had access to more and better sources of energy then they would've been able to create new embryos easily. Dalek cloning's very power intensive, and since there was no nuclear energy, Sec got desperate." The Doctor replied.

Suddenly the screen showing his friends disappeared. " We've lost them," Donna exclaimed, _yeah, we'd noticed thanks. _

The Doctor adjusted the screen, willing an image to reappear. Then he realised something, a lock on on the comm system. A Dalek frequency. So the Daleks wanted to talk.

" There's another signal. Hello?" He asked.

From the screen there was still static, then a voice issued from it. " _Your voice is different and yet it's arrogance is unchanged." _

The Doctor and Romana exchanged a look, a look filled with horror as they recognised the voice.

The screen cleared, and Davros appeared.

" _Welcome to my new empire, Doctor. It is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, lord and creator of the Dalek race." _

The Doctor subtly pushed Romana out of sight. Davros may've met two of Romana's past lives, but there were other concerns. If Davros found out Romana was pregnant then the repercussions were beyond incalculable. For a long time the Doctor and Davros had nursed an enmity, and the Dalek creator hated him with a passion. The Doctor had no intention of letting Romana get within a centimeter of Davros.

" I wish I could say it's good to see you again, Davros," The Doctor began. He cocked his head as he finished his sentence. " But as we both know that would be an utter lie. How did you come back? You were destroyed in the very first year of the Time War. I saw your command ship fly into the jaws of the Nightmare child. Stupidly, I tried to save you. Wish I hadn't bothered now." The Doctor added as an afterthought. Romana agreed with him.

Davros wasn't touched or bothered. " _It took one stronger than you. Dalek Caan himself_." he said blandly.

As if on cue a voice said in the background, and depicted in a beam of light was a shattered Dalek casing wrapped in chains. The Doctor could see the creature, and he found it hard to believe a rational and emotionless creature could sound so insane.

" _I flew into the wild and fire. I danced and died a thousand times." _A voice that sounded like a Dalek, though an insane type the Doctor had never heard of before said, sounding like it was almost drunk.

Davros broke in, stating the obvious. " _Emergency temporal shift took him back into the Time War itself." _

" How? The war is timelocked." The Doctor replied. His earlier thoughts that Rose may have been responsible starting to look less likely. Rose could've been partially responsible, but was she? Or was her time as the Master's wife clouding his judgement?

Davros chuckled dryly, _" And yet he succeeded. Oh, it cost him his mind, but imagine, a single simple Dalek succeeded where emperors and Time Lords failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?" _Out of sight Romana quirked an eyebrow. The way Davros had said the word emperor was as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. Davros didn't like simple Daleks jumping up and usurping his authority.

The Doctor nodded, " What about the Daleks with you, did Caan bring them out of the war as well?" As he was speaking, his thoughts on Rose changed. Before he'd been convinced that she was responsible, but now he wasn't too sure. There was something niggling at the back of his mind...something more than a simple dimensional crack.

" _No, Doctor. I created my new empire here. I gave myself to the Daleks. Literally. Each one grown from a cell of my own body. New Daleks, true Daleks." _As Davros had been speaking, he'd unfastened his tunic and showed his mutilated chest. The skin had been torn from the bones, leaving only the lungs, ribs and heart. The Doctor heard Romana gasp silently, and wished she hadn't seen it. She didn't need the stress. Romana walked away from the console, and leant against a wall, rubbing her belly gently and breathing deeply but slowly. He could feel her discomfort and horror through their bond, and he cursed Davros for putting Romana through all this.

Davros carried on, uncaring about his own health or about how the people watching him reacted to his self mutilation. _" I have my children, Doctor. What do you have -?" _The image was cut off and the original faces seen before Davros appeared came back onto the screen. The Doctor blinked, in another time and reality he might've said that he was expecting children, real children, not the nightmares Davros created on a daily basis, but instead of the insane Kaled scientist, he saw instead Susan's long dark hair and solemn expression. He could see the horror in her own eyes, but she was calm about it.

" Don't worry grandfather, I've rerouted the frequency to random. They can't track us_." _She said.

" I hope your right, Susan." The Doctor replied. He put his face in his hands. " Right, all of you. Now we know Davros is here, what do we do about it? What's he planning?"

" I thought he'd died when we fought him on Skaro." Sarah Jane said.

" So did I, but I met him later. His chair contained a secondary life support system that kept him alive for thousands of years." The Doctor replied. " Sorry I didn't tell you, but I thought he was back in the war."

" Do you think Rose has something to do with it?" Jack asked.

The Doctor sighed. " I dunno. I thought I was, but not now. Something else could've happened. Listen I'm coming in."

The TARDIS rematerialised in Torchwood hub. The Doctor, Romana and Donna stepped out. " Susan, how did you switch the frequencies of the subwave network?"

Susan pointed at her TARDIS connected to the controls of the hub. " It took me a while to rig the connections, using the rift as a booster. That's how I broke through the temporal pocket and create a pathway."

" Does he know about you?"

Susan grinned, " You mean about me being a Time Lord? No. If they did then they would've attacked Cardiff ages ago, that is if they're aware of Torchwood."

" Oh, I think they are." The Doctor remarked, explaining for his wife's benefit. " Dalek Caan and the cult drained the mind of a Torchwood employee, and he was quite high up, so its likely he knows about Cardiff."

" What about your TARDIS?" Susan asked. " I hope you bounced the TARDIS here."

" Of course I did," The Doctor replied indignantly, not liking his granddaughter point out the obvious.

" Bounce?" Donna asked.

" I used that trick with the extrapolator to bounce the TARDIS from one point in space time to here, like I did when we were dealing with the Rachnoss." The Doctor replied.

Susan walked over to Romana, wrapping her arms around her step grandmother. " How're you feeling?"

Romana glowed like a new mother. She took Susan's hand, placing it on her belly. " I'll feel glad when this pregnancy's over. Your grandfather's overprotective, stopping me from coming out of the TARDIS."

Susan chuckled. The Doctor went with Jack to check the monitors. The Dalek ships parked close to Earth were stationary. A small number of the ships were on the planet, and they had been there a while. The Doctor leant over the controls.

" What're you doing?" Jack asked.

" Checking your logs. The rift vibrates like a spiders web whenever a time distortion, like a TARDIS or that space hopper thing you Time Agents use, but interdimensional crossings create a larger scale vibration. If I can just - aha! Found her! Actually she's been popping in quite a few times recently for the past few months. Donna, when you met Rose in that parallel world, you said that the stars were going out?"

" Yeah."

" Did she bother to say why, instead of me wasting my time, she didn't bother calling me in the TARDIS? Her phone's like yours, with universal roaming. Why couldn't the stupid girl phone?" The Doctor asked.

Donna shook her head.

The Doctor focused on the screen. " She's in Chiswick. I think she's with your grandfather and mother."

Donna was confused. " Why?"

" If you were looking for someone where would you look and ask, especially if said person had friends?" Romana asked, coming over, Susan standing with her. Susan glanced at the screens. " The Daleks aren't coming closer. I think they're waiting for you to make a move."

" Right then," The Doctor said, putting his hands inside his pockets. " What do we have? We have Davros, who's created a new Dalek empire, but he's created that empire using planets taken from around the universe, and he's taken Earth. He hasnt moved outside, and he's instead sealed himself and the Daleks inside a time pocket to hide. Donna, did the same thing happen in that parallel world?"

Donna shook her head. " No, but I saw the stars go out, like a candle or a lightbulb go out."

" Earth wasn't moved?" Romana asked, frowning. " What's changed?"

" What planets were taken?" Jack asked suddenly.

Surprised by his contribution, the Doctor told him. Jack frowned. " Can I borrow your TARDIS computer, Doctor?"

" Yeah, sure," The Doctor replied, watching bemusedly as Jack took out his own TARDIS key and opened the door. Romana sidled up to him, rubbing her pregnant belly against his side without her knowing it. " What's he doing in there?"

" I dunno, but I'm gonna check." The Doctor replied, stalking towards the TARDIS, Romana, Donna and Susan trailing behind. When they got inside they found Jack studying the monitor.

" What've you got Jack?" Susan asked in her welsh accent.

Jack paused, " When you said that Earth hadn't been taken in an alternate timeline and that here we are now, I got wondering about what these worlds have in common, and I think I've found it. Each of the planets have a sort of psychic technology."

Romana frowned. " Telepathy?"

" Yeah, so I did some checking. Woman wept, psionic communications net. Pyrovillia, psychic shields. The lost moon of Poosh, psychic warp shooter. In all these planets, something psychic connects them, and Earth has..."

The Doctor sighed, " The Archangel network, of course. A telepathic signal inside a satellite network, created by an evil Time Lord, boosted by the telepathic circuits of a TARDIS."

" A Time Lord did this?" Donna asked aghast. " I thought you guys were supposed to be good."

" Individual Time Lords vary like humans do, Donna," Romana replied quietly. " Just after you left the Doctor, he found me and later on a Time Lord who wants to control the universe. He managed to escape, but it looks like without him Earth wouldn't have moved."

The Doctor was looking at the screen, a myriad of feelings in his mind. " Ok, but we still don't know what they intend to do."

" Stars are going out," Romana whispered, rubbing her belly in concern. The idea of Daleks destroying everything wasn't doing her pregnancy any wonders. Physically Time Lords were stronger than humans, but stress was a big no, no for pregnant Time Ladies, and Romana was no exception. Susan and the Doctor saw and felt Romana's discomfort, and they embraced her, Susan hugging her around the middle, gently sending gentle and calming thoughts to the babies.

Romana embraced her husband and step granddaughter in thanks.

When they stepped out of the TARDIS, they saw a flash of light, and a blonde girl appeared, holding a very big gun. When Romana got a good look at the girl's face she wanted nothing more than to storm over there and break her in half in case she tried anything. It had been a long time since Romana had last seen her, but she'd never forgotten Rose Tyler.

As soon as Rose saw the Doctor, she dropped her gun, and rushed over to him, almost pushing Romana aside, uncaring that she was pregnant. The Doctor was so startled that he didn't move, but when he saw Romana stumble slightly, he jumped out of Rose's amorous arms, and rushed towards the pregnant Time Lady.

" Are you alright?" He asked in concern. She didn't look good, it looked like she was trying to stop herself from being sick after being on a carousel.

Romana breathed in deeply, trying to get her centre of balance back. " No," she gasped. " This is what I hate about being pregnant, having a problem with my balance. When she pushed me I couldn't stay still..." she whispered, and the Doctor wrapped her in his arms.

Rose was looking at the scene with some hurt and some anger. " Doctor, what's going on? Why's that girl pregnant?"

The Doctor didn't reply. He'd seen the size of the gun. Instead he called for his granddaughter, " Susan, can you take Romana back to the TARDIS, make sure she's alright?" At once Romana protested, saying she was alright, but the Doctor wouldn't have it. He needed to speak with Rose without Romana being present.

When the two Time Ladies had left, the Doctor turned towards Rose, noticing the gun in her arms, and he glowered. It seemed that some things would never change. " Could you not see she was pregnant? You could've endangered her life, and the life of the twins?"

Rose had by now guessed that Romana was pregnant with the Doctor's baby, but when he said the word twins, she was furious. She saved herself for him! " Twins? You mean you made her pregnant?"

The Doctor didn't even try to deny, and at once Rose went off into one of her unbearable jealous rants. " I save myself for you, for years, but no. Instead of waiting for me you run off and get that little slut pregnan- AH!" Her hand flew to her now stinging cheek, looking at the Doctor in stunned amazement. The Doctor breathed in hard, his hand stinging from where he'd slapped Rose. There was no way in hell he would let Rose get away with calling the love of his lives a slut.

" Tell me something, Rose, if we were an item as you think we were, then answer me this. When did we ever share a meal between us? Go out to the cinema together to watch a film?"

" We would've done that anyway, you just needed time -" Rose tried to say, but the Doctor interrupted. " No, Rose. We had plenty of time, I had plenty of time to show you that you were nursing an obsession. An obsession that only grew worse during the regeneration I had. I love Romana, have done for years."

Rose's aggression came back quickly. When she'd discovered that the Doctor had travelled with people before her she'd hit the roof, but the Doctor had ignored her.

" So, she's another Sarah - Jane, another reject you decided to pick up and fuck?" The moment the words were out of her mouth, Rose wished she'd kept her mouth shut. The Doctor towered over her, his lanky form filling her frame of mind, then he calmed down. " You're lucky Rose, cause we've got more important things to worry about than your childish little crush."


	40. Chapter 40

**The Time War reignited.**

" Okay, Rose," the Doctor sighed, trying to ignore the urge to throttle the stupid girl for insulting Romana and making her lose her balance when she must've seen she was pregnant. He had more important things to do, and deal with the latest Dalek plan. Davros' presence in the Medusa cascade frightened him, the Dalek's creator had proven time and again he was a monster, that he wasn't as emotionally limited as his creations, but the Doctor had started to hope he was dead, and now here he was, ready to do it all again and cause more destruction, and the biggest insult was that Rose Tyler arrogantly decided to let him wait before telling him that she was here, that the Daleks were here, and the whole universe was in jeopardy. " Enough games. Why didn't you call me in the TARDIS when Davros moved these worlds?"

Rose was defiant, " Timelines and stuff." The reticient and petulant response only annoyed the Time Lord more than he already was. He had to bow his head and take a deep breath to stop himself from shouting. When he looked back up, Rose was still in petulant mode. Stupid girl. What was it about Rose that kept her in a teenage mindset?

" That's not a good answer, Rose." The Doctor ground out angrily, stalking forward and invading her personal space. " Besides since when did you care about timelines? You personally invited Adam Mitchell into the TARDIS, next thing we know he's sending information back through time, and taping it on an answer machine. An answer machine! Next, not learning from that, you then coerce me into taking you back in time to your father's death, and then you almost destroy the world. You then ripped open the TARDIS console, looked into the heart of the TARDIS. Yeah, you may have destroyed the Daleks, but you did kill one of my incarnations. Forgive me if I don't show much confidence in your concern about timelines. Rose, if you don't tell me the truth, then I'll make sure-" The Doctor snapped, but he didn't finish his sentence when he saw who was coming towards them.

Romana came out of the TARDIS, breathing heavily, one hand cradling her belly. Forgetting Rose, the Doctor sprinted over to her and hugged him.

" How're you feeling?" he whispered in her ear.

Romana shook her head, then winced when the movement made her more sick. She leant against the Doctor, trying to maintain her balance, breathing hard, and the Doctor wrapped his arms around her. Across the room, Rose made a face at the display, but the two Time Lords ignored her. " Rough. I think I'm going into labour," she added, not looking happy about the prospect in their current situation. Absolutely typical, she gets pregnant, a happy surprise yeah, but when they encounter Daleks, her children, as stubborn and impossible as their father decide it was time to come out. "I've been feeling the twins move around for the last couple of hours, but I'd hoped they wouldn't make an appearance for a while. Sorry, the timings terrible. Of all the times to have children, I have to have them in the middle of a Dalek attack." She broke down sobbing.

The Doctor looked deep at her, and cursed Rose for not taking the effort to actually call so then this mess could've been resolved. Romana breathed in hard, closing her eyes in effort. She wasn't sure how long she could last. Her Time Lady body meant her body had more strength than a humans, and her mental powers had yoga like training, but even Time Ladies who were pregnant had their limitations, and Romana was truly nearing hers.

She also heard her loved one's angry thoughts. Romana looked at the Doctor and then nodded towards Rose, " What's Miss Universe of the year doing?"

The Doctor sneered, " Oh, she's going on about timelines now. Damn it, stupid girl, what is it about humans that make them think they know everything, but in fact they don't? First Torchwood, then Rose," he cursed, and Romana winced. The loudness of the Doctor's thoughts echoed painfully in her mind. The Doctor winced himself in sympathy, " Sorry," he apologised sheepishly. He started rubbing her belly, hoping to soothe the twins impatience. It didn't work very well.

Romana shook him off, " Do you have any plans to deal with the Daleks?" she asked.

The word Dalek made the Doctor's face stormy, he shook his head. " No, and it's partially that stupid girls fault. ' Stars are going out,' that can mean anything, it explains so much, that's what Donna saw, that's what Rose described. We know now that the Daleks have yanked planets into this of space time because of some form of psychic technology, we know that in the parallel universe Donna was in Earth wasn't yanked, but we know little else. I won't know for sure until I speak with Davros."

" What?" Romana gasped, " Are you insane? Davros's Daleks may get trigger happy."

" I know, but I'm thinking of something right now." The Doctor swallowed as his plan's repercussions went into his mind. He forced a smile, and he took Romana by the arm and took her over to a couch. " Get some rest," he ordered her gently, rubbing her belly to try and soothe the twins and stop them from almost killing their mother. " You might need it." Romana narrowed her eyes at him, thinking that he was planning something.

" You don't have to tell me twice," his wife murmured, soothed by her husbands magical touch. She fell onto the couch, sighing in delight of not being on her feet anymore, and went to sleep straightaway. The Doctor sat there, watching her for a moment, cursing the Daleks and their damn creator. " You won't take her from me, you slimy parasitic germ," he vowed.

Jack came over to him, watching Romana as she slept. " You plan to go to the Daleks, don't you?" he asked, knowing his old friend well. The Doctor nodded with a sigh, and Jack was struck by how old the Time Lord appeared. " I have a plan, rather rushed thanks to Miss Rose-I-Know-so-much-more-than-anybody-else-because-I've-travelled-with-the-Doctor Tyler's refusal to actually tell us about the Daleks. Damn it, Jack, I don't want to leave her, not whilst she's pregnant, she's also in labour but I have to. What a wonderful time," the Doctor spat.

" What do you plan to do?" Jack whispered. He understood his old friend's anger and resentment towards Rose; the girl had been sitting on the knowledge of the Daleks for a while, and instead of contacting the Doctor, the stupid tart had done nothing.

The Doctor took Jack by the arm, leading him to where Susan's TARDIS was standing. The Doctor looked at the more advanced time machine with something Jack could see as pride. The Doctor may not own a flashy spanking new TARDIS, but he was proud of them anyway. The Time Lord turned to face Jack.

" I don't want Rose or Romana to overhear what I'm saying, Romana because of how much stress she's under, and Rose because she'll do something stupid that puts our lives at risk, but my plan is simple. I want Susan and her to return to New Gallifrey, and to bring in the Time Lords, but I want Romana gone so then I know she'll be safe. It should slow the Daleks down, and prevent their plan from coming about. The Daleks believe there's only one Time Lord, not an entire race. I want to end the Time war, once and for all. Here, in the Medusa cascade. I am tired, Jack, of meeting them, and I am sick of them, of Davros, even though I haven't seen that mutated bastard in a long time. Let me see your vortex manipulator."

The Doctor's request was a strange one, and Jack was at first resistant, knowing how contemptuous Time lords were of vortex manipulators. It was also because the time machine wriststrap was the only one Jack had, but he trusted the Doctor.

The Doctor flashed his sonic screwdriver over the manipulator, and started pressing buttons. Puzzled, Jack watched him as he started to reprogram the manipulator.

" What're you doing?"

" Vortex manipulators tears holes in the time vortex, and Dalek sensors are tuned to detect that sort of damage, time rings used by the Time Lords merge with the vortex and are practically undetectable by Dalek scanners. One of the only time machines we had in the war the Daleks couldn't detect until too late. The problem is your manipulator's basic technology, but I might be able to duplicate it slightly," The Doctor explained briefly, still absorbed in his reprogramming. " I'm reprogramming your manipulator to do the same. "

" Will you still leave the manipulator alone when you leave?" Jack asked excited, but carefully.

The Doctor didn't reply, and Jack didn't respond or push the issue. Susan came out of her TARDIS, walking over to them. She noticed Romana sleeping over on the couch, just as she was about to go over in that direction the Doctor stopped her. " Susan, I've got a job for you." He finished the job on the manipulator. " Susan, I want you to take Romana to New Gallifrey."

Susan's eyes almost popped out, " Do you have a death wish or something, or do you want me to die? Romana'll make death instantaneous."

" I know," the Doctor hissed to keep their argument, as it was starting to appear, down otherwise Rose, who was coming towards them, would overhear. " Susan, I want you and Romana to bring in the other Time Lords so then we can keep the Daleks occupied, and give me and Jack a chance to deal with them and Davros on their turf and distract them. As far as I know, the Daleks are aware there's only one Time Lord, me, so they won't suspect anything until its too late."

Susan folded her arms and shook her head, " I don't like this," she said frankly. " You do realise of course she's gonna skin you alive?"

" Thanks for reminding me, please Susan I need to do this, and I need you and Romana to do it. I can't send a hypercube because the Daleks might detect it."

" Just like they might detect my TARDIS."

" Did they detect mine?" The Doctor asked pointedly, starting to get frustrated.

Susan saw that her grandfather was not budging from his suicidal plan. " Okay, I'll take her. But if I die and regenerate, then I'll murder you."

The Doctor smirked, " Granted." His smile faded when he saw Rose swagger over to them closer than before.

" Jack, the manipulator," the Doctor gestured. Jack held out the manipulator and both men disappeared. Susan shook her head, and walked away, but Rose accosted her, " Hey, where've they gone?"

Susan glared at her, " To clean up your mess." Deciding it was time to get rid of Rose Tyler, Susan pressed her fingers to the other woman's neck, and applied pressure on a pressure point, and Rose passed out. Susan grabbed her before the blond could fall to the ground, and the Time Lady dragged her to a couch, and grabbed some wire and bound and gagged her. The Time Lady then went through her pockets, and took out a mobile phone, and a small circular device. A dimensional teleport, Susan realised, feeling sick. Grabbing the Very Big Gun, Susan put the teleport on the ground, and blew it to pieces. Breathing hard, Susan then turned to face the still sleeping Romana, surprised when he saw she was still asleep even through all that, but she sighed as she realised the worst was still to come.

* * *

Romana woke up, feeling all her temporal senses tingling as they did when she was travelling in a TARDIS. She woke up, and found herself inside a TARDIS, but not the Doctor's. This was a more advanced model, a mark 2, and Susan was at the controls.

" What's going on?" Romana asked, staggering to her feet. At once Susan was at her side, and pushed her unresisting body onto the TARDIS pilot seat.

" I'm sorry, Romana, but I had to do it?" Susan apologised.

Romana knew her husband too well, and she knew he had something to do with this. " What has he done now? Why am I here?"

" He wanted me to protect you, and I am. Your family, more than my grandmother ever was, and you're pregnant. We're going to New Gallifrey."

Romana was many things but stupid was not one of them, " He wants us to bring the Time Lord races in, doesn't he, to fight the Daleks?"

Susan nodded, " Got it in one, Romana." She wrapped her arms around Romana. The other Time Lady knew rationally that the Doctor had done it to ensure her safety, but her dawning motherly side was kicking and screaming, demanding blood from fathers who weren't there to see their offspring born.

Rationality won out, but Romana had to control the pregnancy, the twins seemed to know their father wasn't with them, and they weren as happy as their mother. " How long before we're at New Gallifrey?" She asked.

Susan disentangled herself from Romana, and turned to the console. " We're almost there."

" Did the Daleks give you any trouble?"

Susan turned around, " No. They're convinced that the Doctor's in their midst, so why bother looking for other Time Lords?"

Romana nodded. " Flavia and the others are not going to like this. They escape the Time War, the Daleks, Rassilon, and they come out, and they find monsters like Davros and the Master have come out on top."

" One thing baffles me," Susan said. " How do you think they got out of the Time Lock?"

Romana shook her head light, trying to concentrate through her pain. " I can see two possibilities, and the Doctor probably does as well. The first one is Rose Tyler, blundering about with something that can shatter the walls of reality. Considering how I know her that one seems the most likely, but there's also the second possibility. That the Time Lock itself is imperfect."

Susan gasped. Like all the other Time Lords to have fought in the war, and as one of the renegades to be aware of Rassilon's madness, Susan was aware of what would happen if the Time Lock suddenly collapsed. The Time Lords that had survived and rebuilt from the war had worked long and hard since their awakenings, and the Rani wouldn't want her 'children' to be used as cannon fodder if Rassilon got his hands on them. Many of the new Time Lord races were above and beyond the Time Lords of old, they'd evolved, changed beyond the needs Rassilion thought befitted a Time Lord.

" You don't think...?" Susan asked fearfully, her voice trailing off.

Romana swallowed, thinking the same thing as her friend.

* * *

The city of New Gallifrey was in some ways identical to the Citadel Romana had grown up and studied in, but it was different. It wasn't closed off to the elements. There were wide open spaces with grassy parks. Overrall the city resembled one of many.

Susan's TARDIS materialised on the grounds of the new council building, and Susan helped Romana out of the TARDIS, but neither of them headed for the medical centre. They went to Flavia and the rest of the council instead.

Flavia stood up as they walked inside, and she rushed to help her friend. " Romana, what are you doing here? Where's the Doctor?"

Romana's mouth contorted at the bad taste in her mouth. That bad taste was given a name.

" Daleks. In the Medusa cascade. Millions of them."

Flavia and the other councilors started talking when they got over their two minute shock. '' Where's the Doctor?" Flavia asked again.

" He's gone to face them. Flavia, the Daleks are not alone. Davros has survived. He'd come out of the war thanks to Dalek Caan."

" That's impossible."

Romana's pregnancy had made her lose most of her renowned control, and the Scholar's statement made her lash out, Susan grabbing hold of her to keep her steady. " I know its impossible, but its happened."

Romana gave them a brief summary of the recent turn of events, Donna's parallel world, the Daleks, the planets stolen, their presence in the Medusa cascade, Rose Tyler's return. All of it, including her husband making his own granddaughter take her away.

The Scholar's scathing words made Susan and the Rani, who was also in attendance want to kill him, but that was nothing compared to what Romana wanted to do to him.

" You're marriage is none of our concern, Lady Romana."

Breathing and huffing, Romana gritted her teeth. This was not doing her pregnancy any favours. " I don't give a damn what you think, you pompous beauracratic snob. I know all about your prejudice towards my husband, but I don't care. You've spent your lives ignoring the bigger picture of the cosmos, but not me and my husband. He could be dead for all I know, and if I hear one word from you, you'll regret it. You're supposed to be a Time Lord. That means more than sitting down on your arse, playing it safe. I've spent most of my life travelling the universe. I've fought monsters, whereas you've done nothing but lecture people. The time for our people to be blind and weak minded is past. The old era of the Time Lords will never come back. We must move forward." She said, looking at each of them.

Flavia looked down at her toes before she looked up, her eyes as hard as granite. " You're right, Romana. Its time we become more proactive instead of reactive. I'll contact the other races myself and arrange for as many ships and TARDISes as possible for launch."

Romana nodded, her worry about her husband making her more and more nauseous. Flavia's promise was welcome, then she remembered something else, for more problematic. " There's something else, something far more serious. One of the Doctor's companions, Rose Tyler, was left in a parallel world after a confrontation with the Daleks, and she was stuck in the parallel universe. She had access to alien technology, thanks to an organisation called Torchwood, and used that technology to rip holes in the walls of reality."

The Scholar threw up his hands, " Oh, when will the Doctor ever stop taking humans on his travels?"

That was it.

Romana marched over to him as best as she could, and she punched the reticient Time Lord in the eye. The Scholar staggered back, holding his eye.

" I don't have anything to say to you, Scholar. Keep away from me."

* * *

A few hours.

That was how long it took for the battle fleets to be organised, and it wasn't long before both Romana and Susan with Flavia boarded the Human-Time Lord battlecruiser. On the outside of the mighty ship was massive, but the inside of the ship was infinitely more bigger than outside, thanks to the pocket universe inside.

Rani looked around the bridge of the Human-Time lord ship. It was a mixture of styles, some of the walls had roundeled panels on them, but there were more commonly bare walls with functional controls on them. Rani knew that the Human-Time lord race, and the others had superseded TARDIS technology, and she knew that even though the ship was disappointingly smaller on the outside, that wasn't true for most of the internal mass. The engines and the weapon systems wwere inside massive sections that were too big for a normal ship, but there was no additional mass to the ship.

Susan watched as Romana looked around the bridge with admiration. The younger Time lady had interacted with her cousin race on many occasions, more than either the Doctor or Romana.

Romana was rubbing her pregnant belly, fretting as she sat on the couch the captain had had brought up to the bridge for her comfort, much to her gratitude. Susan embraced her. " He'll be alright." She whispered. Tears flooded Romana's eyes. " I hate him sometimes, for thinking that I'm just a weakling." She said between her tears.

" You know that's not true," Susan chided. " He wanted to keep you safe, and the best way of doing that would be to send you off and get help at the same time. He counted on that."

" I know, but-" Romana cried harder.

The captain approached, professionally ignoring Romana, and announced. " We're ready."

* * *

Jumping out of warp space, the Human-Time Lord, Silurian-Time Lord, Monan-Host -Time Lord, and Chula-Time Lord battlefleets appeared next to the time barrier surrounding the Medusa Cascade.

The Captain of the ship Romana was on, ordered calmly. " Activate time drive, charge all weapons and power the shields. Firepower maximum. Remember the Daleks are to be slaughtered. No mercy. And don't forget, there are 27 planets in there, and they must be returned."

The battle fleets moved in, and activated their temporal deflectors to pry open the temporal pocket. The Doctor's TARDIS, and Susan's, had weakened it. The deflectors applied more pressure to the temporal barrier. Finally, in a burst of blue light, the entire thing came down.

* * *

The Chula- Time Lord attack fighters, with their Silurian and Human counterparts, fired on the Dalek battlesaucers, their anti-Dalek weapons piercing the shields of the Dalek ships without effort. The Rani had taught her lessons well on that subject, giving them Dalek technology to work with, and to make advances with. Their weapons maximised the Dalekanium power feeds inside their ships as well, destroying the Daleks, burning them inside their casings.

* * *

On the crucible, the Doctor watched as the fighters, Chula-Time lord by the look of them, throw themselves against the Daleks, destroying saucer after saucer, their weapons a mixture between Human, Time Lord, Dalek, and Chula, naturally. It was the warlike tendencies of the Chula that had made them such an obvious candidate of the Rani's to breed a new race of Time lords from them.

Rose, who had somehow managed to teleport to the Crucible, in some sickening desire to announce her love to him, was watching the slaughter with wide eyes, and the Doctor realised she had never seen Dalek ships be attacked by another race before. Sarah-Jane, Jackie, Mickie, Martha, and Jack, were locked in similar cells.

" Doctor, who are they?" She asked.

Davros wheeled around in his chair, " Yes, Doctor, who are they?"

The Kaled scientist almost jumped out of his chair when the Daleks near him exploded as the Dalekanium feeds caused their casings to overload. He was furious, he recognised some of the weapons as Time lord, but the Time lords were all but extinct. He'd been nursing dreams of killing the Doctor finally when the Reality bomb had been exploded.

" Figure it out, Davros." The Doctor said quietly, just as he, his friends, and not friend Rose were transported to the bridge of the Human-Time lord ship that Romana was on. The Doctor grabbed her, but she slapped him, the sound reverberating around the bridge, bringing all attention on to them. " That's for thinking I couldn't handle it." She shouted, tears leaking from her eyes, her coiffured hair falling out of the elegant hairdo. Then Romana grabbed him by the lapels and snogged him.

Jack grinned, but it faded when he saw Rose's expression. " Rose, it was never going to happen."

Rose was about to retort, when they caught sight of some of the Dalek ships be rounded up, and pushed towards the Crucible where smaller ships started generating beams of yellow energy, catching them like a spider's web. The Dalek ships that tried to pass it were destroyed, and the Zed neutrino energy shining from the reality bomb emitter array grew dimmer as the energy was siphoned off.

One of the crew reported to the captain, " Energy webs on line, some of the Daleks and saucers are trying to activate temporal shift and time corridor, or simple teleportation, but the webs keeping their signals blocked."

The Captain nodded. " Excellent. Continue firing on them."

Martha walked over to the embracing Doctor and Romana, smiling at Romana. " What're they doing?" She asked, pointing at the web.

The Doctor didn't turn around, he knew what the web was. " The web is generated by the Time lord ships," he started, ignoring Rose's gasp of surprise. " And they siphon energy from the enemy ships, blocking any attempt to flee by warp or hyperjump, even time travel's rendered inoperative. It's similar to some tricks the Daleks played with our TARDISes."

Rose just had to stick her nose in it, " How can they be Time lords? Your the last one."

The Doctor shook his head. " Not when I found the Master and Romana, then I found others. Rani, over there," he pointed at the oriental Time Lady," created dozens of new Time lord races, subspecies. Human was only one of them."

The captain approached. " If I may interrupt, Doctor, your TARDIS has been transported on our ship, though we had a little trouble with a woman inside."

" Donna," The Doctor said. " Captain, what're you gonna do with the Earth?"

" We going to activate a fold to send them back."

The Doctor was about to ask what a fold was when Romana cried out, clutching her belly. She was in labour.

Romana was rushed to the medical bay, trying to control her pains, but she was failing. The twins were giving her such a hard time, she thought they were going to tear their way out of her womb.

The Doctor was presently in agony, as Romana was crushing his hand in her grasp, and she was cursing him, spitting obsenties at him. The duty nurse came over. " Okay, I need you to push now."

Romana screamed.

Outside, Rose's heart was breaking as the sound of Romana's screaming, unable to comprehend how the Doctor had married her, that bitch, that Time lady. Jack and a girl who claimed to be the Doctor's granddaughter. Granddaughter! How could he be a grandfather? Yes, he'd said that he was a father once, but he had said nothing about that.

She was the one the Doctor loved, not that bitch.

She didn't notice the ship's captain and three of his guards approach her or her mother and Mickie until they were close enough. " Rose Tyler." The captain said, and Rose jumped and looked up, watching the four of them carefully.

" The walls of reality are closing, it's time for you to leave. Please stand up." The Captain continued, and the guards raised their weapons at her.

Jackie protested, scared for her daughter. " Oi! What's happenin'? "

The Captain turned his gaze to her, and Jackie stepped back at the coldness in his eyes. " Your daughter is responsible for the Daleks coming out of the Time war, and tearing the fabric of the universe to pieces. She and you, are going to be sent back to the reality you have been residing in, and you will have your memories locked so you cannot leave it again and cause more damage."

The captain raised his hand, showing a small blue gem in the palm, but Mickie got there first. He'd had enough of the universe the Doctor had named Pete's world, since his alternate grandmother had died, and he wanted to leave it. He had nothing there, and Rose was an arrogant bitch.

" Can I stay here?" He asked, unknowingly aware that the Captain was reading his mind, and sensing his sincerity.

" I see no reason why not." He said, holding up the palm gem again, and Jackie and Rose disappeared in blue light.

The Doctor sighed as he took off his jacket and shirt, and undid his tie as he prepared to go to bed. The TARDIS had done some remodelling on the room he and Romana shared, and added a doorway into the room the twins would share. Damon, and Rodan, a boy and girl, were in their mother's arms as she fed them, looking like an angel as she glowed with maternal joy at the sight of the twins.

When he got into bed, Romana turned his smiling face at him, then her smile faded as she saw his solemness. " What's wrong?" She asked.

" I didn't say goodbye to Jackie for the last time, but I'm glad I didn't have to speak to Rose." He whispered, playing idly with the twins and watched with a grin as Rodan grabbed her father's little finger and started sucking it.

These precious children could've been erased from existence by Davros, and his reality bomb. The thought of the evil scientist made him feel physically ill, and he was glad the others had generated that web to stop the crippled monster from escaping again.

Romana gave him a smile, " She's a mother herself, she knew you were occupied as it was. Besides, what would you have said to Rose? I'm sure you've said enough to her as it is already."

The Doctor gave a wry grin, but Romana was worried when she saw his eyes. " Look," she said exasperately, " what's really wrong with you?"

The Doctor sighed, he should've expected his beloved wife to notice that there was more to his melancholy than saying goodbye to Jackie and finding the appropriate words to Rose.

" It's Davros," he sighed. " It's just that he got out of the time lock, due to Rose, but I can't but feel that...if Davros could come out of the lock, something else can as well, something worse."

Romana clutched her children together protectively. She now saw the Doctor's point, if Davros, the evil creator of the Daleks could come out, what about the Nightmare child? Or the Couldhavebeenking? Other Daleks? Or...Rassilon?

The memory of the evil leader of the Time lords made Romana's hearts freeze. What if he did get out?

She didn't know it then, but that thought would come back in another 100 years to haunt her once more.


	41. Chapter 41

**I am so sorry its taken this long to complete this story, but here it is the ending.**

**You Are Not Alone.**

**The End.**

Romana stood next to her husband, an arm wrapped around her waist as they saw Donna laugh and hold up her wedding ring. Shaun, her new husband was holding her in joy. The Time Lady couldn't help but feel happy for her best human friend.

Donna saw the two Time Lords, and ignoring everyone else went over to them. When she was close enough, she flung her arms around the pair of them, and crushed them in a fierce hug.

" Gramps told me what'd happened," they heard her whisper. Donna pulled back, her nose only inches from the Doctor. " Are you gonna be okay?"

The Doctor sighed. " I dunno," he replied honestly. Romana tightened her grip on him. The Doctor was truly attached to his present, and rapidly ending tenth incarnation. He considered it the best yet, and he didn't want to say goodbye to it.

The Doctor shifted and straightened his stance just as Wilfred and Sylvia came closer. Romana smiled at Sylvia, but she wasn't sure what emotion was appropriate to show Wilfred. In a way it was his fault the Doctor was about to regenerate, but she couldn't fault him to help that trapped man.

She swallowed the bile as she recalled the true villain in this case. It hadn't been the Master, or those stupid humans, the Naismiths.

Rassilon.

Just seeing that man again after what he'd been about to do had made her feel sick, especially after the way he'd tried to kill her during the war, though the love she felt for her husband wouldn't let her leave even if she'd wanted too. Rassilon, lacking the benevolence of his previous lives, and his ability to think straight about things other than himself, had shown himself to be even more vile than she'd imagined. Just thinking about what he'd done to the child who'd gone on to become the Master...

The drumming had been a signal, implanted inside the Master's brain as a child. That drumming had been present for centuries, growing louder and louder, until...

Gallifrey had briefly returned, and for a long while Romana had hoped some of their people would escape through the temporary time corridor Rassilon and the Master had established, but the hope had died in vain when the Master had been shown the truth. The Doctor had destroyed the device, and Rassilon had been about to kill him when the Master, finally redeeming himself, had fired energy bolts at Rassilon.

Wilfred Mott had stopped the married couple from celebrating the Doctor cheating death, he was the one to knock four times. Romana had watched and listened as the Doctor whined and screamed like a little kid in a temper, but she understood where he was coming from. Regeneration wasn't a picnic, it was a painful process, and the Doctor knew that better than most. Even the Master, who'd used up his regenerations in record time, still wasted them.

The Doctor was dying, and so Romana wasn't sure what to make of Wilfred.

She had to shake her head as she was missing the conversation.

" Thing is I don't carry money, so I popped back in time. Borrowed a quid off a really lovely man. Geofrey Noble his name was." The Doctor was saying.

Hearing the name of their now deceased father / husband had Sylvia and Donna tear up, even with the Nobles knowing time travel existed they still received surprises.

Romana hugged Donna, even inviting her mother. The Doctor smiled as a tearful Wilf wrapped an arm around his daughter and granddaughter, smiling at the Doctor.

" Have it, he said," the Doctor carried on, grinning. " Have that on me."

Shaken by his kindness, Sylvia loosened herself from the hug, and addressed Donna, who was still in Romana's arms. " Open it, Donna." She said, looking at the envelope.

Donna let go of her friend, and Romana smirked as she opened the envelope, muttering, " This better not be a gas bill," and pulled out instead...

" A lottery ticket?" She said, gazing at the Time Lords in surprise. The surprise faded when she realised the truth. " Triple rollover this week." She whispered.

Sylvia laughed. She had tears in her eyes.

* * *

Before the Time Lords left, Donna stopped Romana.

" You gonna be okay?" She asked.

Romana bit her lip. " I hope so Donna."

Donna moved so fast Romana wondered if she was slowly time down, it didn't matter because she needed to use her respiratory bypass system to allow her lungs time to breath.

" Take care of yourselves, don't hesitate to drop in now and again," she ordered.

When Romana pulled away, she gave Donna a salute. " Yes, ma'am."

* * *

The Doctor had ordered her to leave the console room after he'd dematerialised the TARDIS, but Romana wouldn't leave him to regenerate on his own, but the Doctor had argued with her about the danger of bottling the energy for so long.

Agreeing to the logic, she'd relented. Before she left to enter the corridor, she hugged him. Then she kissed him. One last kiss. Romana could feel the regenerative energy in the Doctor's mouth.

She pulled back. " Good luck."

Romana watched as the Doctor circled the console, moving closer to the doors to prevent the energy from killing her. " I don't wanna go," he said tearfully before his body started to glow and flow with yellow light.

Suddenly the Doctor exploded with energy, flinging his head back. The backwash of energy flung Romana back in surprise. Never before had she ever witnessed such an explosive regeneration before, but there was always a first time for anything. She watched as the backwash destroyed the console room.

The energy faded, and she could see just the Doctor's face contort with pain just as his features changed.

The Doctor swung round, and started taking stock of his new body even when the TARDIS was crashing. " Legs, still got legs," he even lifted his left knee up to kiss it. " Good. Arms, hands, ooh. Fingers, lots of fingers." He started touching his face. " Ears, yes. Eyes, two. Nose." He felt his nose, measuring its size. " I've had worse. Chin, blimey." Romana couldn't blame him, his chin was massive.

She left the hiding spot, and had to laugh when he complained about his new body being a girl. He swung round, focusing on her intently. " Tell me I'm not a girl." He implored her, looking for all the world like a small child.

Romana laughed, even as she dodged the debris and fires flaming. She reached him, and had to crane her neck up to look him in the eye. She stood on tiptoes to kiss him, hoping despite the regeneration he would have the same feelings for her. It wasn't unknown for Time Lords who regenerated to lose interest in loved ones.

Her fears were mooted when the Doctor wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her. He pulled back. " Okay, I'm not a girl. Something's important, I'm- I'm..."

The TARDIS bucked, sending them both to the ground.

" Crashing!" The Doctor laughed with glee, rushing round the console. " GERONIMO!"

Romana's memories were still hazy. After the Doctor had screamed geronimo, the TARDIS had bucked again, and she'd bumped her head. She had vague memories of the Doctor hanging outside the TARDIS - what the hell was he thinking of doing that? - and they'd come dangerously close to colliding with Big Ben. Using his sonic screwdriver the Doctor had managed to divert the TARDIS enough to miss the London landmark, giving him the chance to get back inside.

Now they'd fallen from the sky after travelling through the vortex.

Crash!

The Doctor had been sent down the TARDIS, which had suffered from internal rearrangement as a result of his regeneration, sending them both hurling through the air...

To end up in the swimming pool, in the library. Talk about being misplaced.

Finding a trusty grappeling hook, the Doctor and Romana had climbed their way back to the console room. Their problems grew and grew as the TARDIS interior shifted in its instability, but the ship had managed - just - to help the two Time Lords reach the console room.

Romana had noticed right away when they'd reached the console room, the TARDIS was still and it was lying on her side. The Doctor didn't pay any attention as he'd fought against the fumes and still burning fires in the room, and he'd managed to get the doors open.

The Doctor had climbed out first, followed by Romana. Only to come face to face with a small red headed girl. It wasn't until later when her haziness dissipated that Romana remembered the time of the Year that Never was.

The Doctor, not knowing about the girl, just asked. " Can I have an apple?

**The End.**

**Doctor Who will return.**


End file.
